


Something Fishy

by yehaesuki



Category: Super Junior
Genre: M/M, YeHae - Freeform, merman au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-03-01 12:40:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 101
Words: 67,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18800551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yehaesuki/pseuds/yehaesuki
Summary: 34-year old office worker Kim Jongwoon just lost his job. As if things couldn’t get any worse, it rains on his way home, a black cat crosses his path and he has to swerve his bike to avoid it, causing him and his bike to fall off a bridge. All this somehow ends up with him in debt, having a concussion and a forgetful merman living in his bath tub.“Please don’t eat me, hyung,” the merman says when he notices Jongwoon’s expression, clutches his tail fearfully to himself. “I’m not food.”Inspired by the manga “Orenji no Furo Jijou”





	1. Could things get any worse? Yes. Yes, they can.

Jongwoon sighs as he makes his way down the familiar road home on his bike. Today was not the best of days - in fact, Jongwoon would consider it the worst he’s had in the last five years, even worse than the time he caught his girlfriend of two years cheating on him with a co-worker. That… didn’t end well. Neither did today. He sighs. His mother always told him that his temper would ruin him for sure. But his boss was annoying and unreasonable and always got on his case about using earphones in the office or wearing too many accessories that when the other had come to him with another stack of paperwork just before he was about to leave, he just lost it.

‘Well,’ Jongwoon thinks. “At least this time there weren’t any slippers involved.”

So here he is - cranky and unemployed and apparently about to be drenched by rain. He tries to pedal faster - his apartment is a couple of blocks away, just a bit past the other side of the bridge. He is almost midway when the downpour starts and suddenly, something crosses his path. He swerves wildly to avoid hitting it, somehow managing to lose his balance, toppling over the side of the bridge. He barely has time to blink before he is falling, wind whistling all around him.

He remembers the DVD he was supposed to watch tonight and wonders if it is a normal thing to think about when one is apparently dying.

Below him, he sees some movement in the water and frowns.

‘Strange,’ he thinks, before he hits the water. ‘I thought I saw…’

A splash and he blacks out.


	2. So you have a tail? Totally didn’t notice that

Jongwoon wakes up gasping for breath, rain falling hard on his face. He tries to get up but can’t. He is drenched and he probably has a concussion but then again, he should be grateful for even making it out alive considering that he actually lost consciousness for a minute there.

He looks around and sees nothing but darkness for a while before his eyes adjust and he recognizes the side of the riverbank close to his apartment. He then  hears labored breathing on his left side - faint but there. He turns his head and finds himself looking at one of the most beautiful faces he’d seen up close in a while - full lips, delicate nose, long lashes, chin-length hair stuck against the man’s face - because the figure was a man, there was no mistaking it, not with all those back muscles. Jongwoon frowns. For some reason, his companion was missing a shirt and was lying on his front.

“Hey,” Jongwoon tries. “Hey, bro. Are you okay? Did you fall off the bridge too?”

The figure does not respond.

Jongwoon begins to worry then, forces himself to sit up and shake the other awake.

“Hey, wake up. You shouldn’t be sleeping here. Come on.”

The figure groans, scrunches his nose - cutely, Jongwoon’s mind notes - and open his eyes. Jongwoon finds himself speechless for a moment before he remembers where they are.

“Hello,” he says.

The other’s eyes widen before he is scrambling to get up. A cry of pain and he is crashing down again. It is only then that Jongwoon notices the ugly gash running down the man’s side. He panics and scrambles for the phone in his pocket. Of course, it refuses to turn on, most likely ruined forever. Jongwoon turns to the stranger, wondering if he could actually carry the other, decides that he has no other choice. The other jumps when he feels Jongwoon place a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. You’re bleeding. We have to get you at least some first aid. My apartment is nearby and I’ve had some training. I’m sorry but I’d have to carry you on my back so… uhm…”

Jongwoon turns around, offers his back. A minute passes before he feels a pair of strong arms go over his shoulders and wrap around his neck, warm breath against his ear, and a cold body sticking to his back. He reaches back, tries to secure the other as best as he could, frowns when he touches something wet and slimy.

“Hey,” Jongwoon says. “I’m going to stand up now. I’m not really sure if I could carry you so just hold on tight I guess.”

He stands up, staggering a bit at the weight, was expecting the other to help him carry him by hoisting his legs up, is surprised when he feels something slimy brush against his leg instead. He looks down and almost drops the stranger.

“What the actual fuck?!” Jongwoon exclaims, wonders if he’d hit his head too hard. After all, that would explain him seeing what was, for all intents and purposes, a literal fish tail trailing behind him and glowing emerald in the moonlight.


	3. I’m not sure what I’ll tell my landlady but ok

Jongwoon struggles up the steps to the third floor where his apartment was. He’d gotten a great deal with the apartment - a low rise building just close enough to his office to be reached by bike - that he actually didn’t usually mind taking the stairs. To be fair, he’s never had to lug anything heavier than groceries up them alone before. He adjusts his grip on the… merman? Half-fish person? It was a wonder he hadn’t fallen off yet. Jongwoon then takes a key out of his pocket and unlocks his door, opens it, and locks it behind him. He eyes the couch but decides against it and makes for his bathroom instead.

He grunts as he lowers the merman onto to the side of the tub and opens the tap to fill it, internally crying for next month’s water bill. The merman whimpers and Jongwoon remembers the gash on the other’s side.

“Hey,” he says, addressing the merman for the first time. The merman flinches. “I’m going to try to get you into the tub now so uhm…”

The merman looks at him with fear - damn, his eyes were too expressive - and Jongwoon resists the urge to pet the merman’s head, settles for smiling reassuringly and saying, “Hey, don’t be scared. My name is Jongwoon and I’m just trying to help you. After all, I’m pretty sure you saved my life.”

“Jong… woon…” the merman repeats, mouthing the syllables carefully.

“Yes, that’s right.” Jongwoon’s smile fades when he notices the merman trembling slightly. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s… you… you aren’t going to eat me, are you?”

Jongwoon bursts out laughing, making the merman flinch again. “What? No! What? Who ever gave you the idea… wait.” Jongwoon reaches out to turn off the tap. “The water’s ready. Why don’t you…”

A sudden splash and Jongwoon is thankful he didn’t get changed yet.

“I’ll… go get the first aid kit,” Jongwoon says awkwardly as the merman settles in.


	4. Like a fish out of water

Jongwoon sighs as he rummages through his kitchen cupboard for a first aid kit. He wonders if he should’ve gone to a hospital instead but he doubts his insurance covers falling off a bridge and it didn’t look like the merman had coverage either.

He sneezes and decides to quickly slip into his bedroom for a change of clothes.

Jongwoon rushes back to find the merman leaning against the back of the tub, eyes closed. He walks toward him slowly, trying not to spook him.

“Hey,” Jongwoon says in his most nonthreatening tone.

The merman’s eyes snap open and he starts backing away from Jongwoon as far as the tub would allow him.

“Hey, now. I said I wouldn’t eat you already, right? I just want to treat your wound.” Jongwoon reaches out a hand. “Please.”

The merman looks at him doubtfully.

“Here. I brought a first aid kit. Let me just patch you up so you’d stop bleeding, okay?”

The merman just looks at him for almost a minute before nodding and presenting his side.

Jongwoon releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding and sits on the side of the tub. He’d disinfected his hands with alcohol before coming in so he reaches out to touch the merman’s side, hoping that the wound did not need any stitches.

To his surprise, the wound seemed to have healed a bit - at least, it seemed better than it was when they were outside.

“It better now,” the merman speaks and Jongwoon looks up at him.

“Yes, I see. How…”

“Water in small lake cleaner than river water.”

Jongwoon blinks. “Oh, you mean this tub?”

“Tub is small lake?” the merman tilts his head to the side confused.

“Yes,” Jongwoon says, fighting the urge to pinch the merman’s cheeks - why did he find that expression on the half-fish too cute? “Though we should probably still cover it up. Here, turn around.”

The merman just looks at him again. Jongwoon shows him the bandages.

“I’m going to wrap this around your torso, okay?”

The merman pauses, seems to be thinking. “Okay, Jongwoon,” he says, making the human’s heart skip a beat, and turns around.

‘What the hell was that?’ Jongwoon scolds himself as he works on treating the merman. It seems too soon that he is tying the bandage off.

“There. We’d probably have to change it tomorrow but I guess we’re good for tonight.” A pause. “Will you be okay here?”

The merman turns back to look at him. “Yes, Jongwoon.”

Jongwoon blushes. “W-well, I guess this is good night then… err…”

“Donghae,” the merman says.

“What?”

“Me Donghae. Thank you, friend Jongwoon.”


	5. Now this was going to be a problem

Jongwoon closes the door of his bathroom behind him and sighs. It’s probably because of the shock but he’s been alarmingly accepting of how things were.

A merman. A merman named Donghae is currently resting in his bath tub. A merman named Donghae who apparently saved his life. Well, if someone asked him how he expected today to turn out, this wasn’t it. He had to have his head checked.

He picks up his phone only to remember that it was totally wrecked. He sigh, getting up and heading for the door.

—

Jongwoon cries internally as he exits the hospital, a bag of medicines in hand. After several tests, the doctor had said that he’d only gotten a mild concussion, gave his prescription, and sent him off. He also got some over-the-counter antibiotics and bandages for the merman Donghae. That set him back a couple of thousand of dollars and practically placed him in the red. Not to mention that his rent is due in five days and it didn’t look like he’d be getting anything from his job - former job.

He sighs and wonders if his pride could take calling his little brother and asking for help. And then he remembers that he doesn’t have a phone.

—

He walks down the familiar bridge on the way home, the one he’d fallen off a couple of hours ago, and notices that the place had been barricaded.

“What’s going on?” he couldn’t help but ask a bystander.

“Ah, apparently some idiot drove his bicycle off the bridge while it was raining earlier last night. They’re blocking off the place for safety.”

“Ah, right,” Jongwoon coughs and slowly backs away.

—

He passes a convenience store and decides to get some groceries, wondering if mermen ate instant ramen since that seemed like the only thing he would be eating until he gets another job.

He sees a can of tuna but decides against it. Donghae seemed terrified enough at the thought of being eaten - what more when he learns that fish were actually canned.

He settles for some ramen and hotdogs in the end.

—

A problem comes up when he suddenly has to pee in the early morning. He groans as he makes his way to the bathroom.

Jongwoon doesn’t understand why he has a problem though. They were both guys, after all.

He opens the door slowly and checks on the merman. No movement comes from the tub except for the occasional swishing of a tail. Donghae’s tail glows a magnificent emerald in the darkness of the bathroom and Jongwoon can’t help but appreciate its beauty — at least, until he remembers what he initially came here for, goes to the toilet, and relieves himself.

He’s pulling up his pyjamas when the merman speaks and Jongwoon jumps.

“Hello, Jongwoon. What you doing?”

Jongwoon turns to see a pair of eyes glowing gold in the darkness.


	6. I didn’t sign up for this

Jongwoon’s whole body flushes. Of all things, he didn’t expect to have to explain something as basic as peeing.

From the tub, the merman, Donghae, looks at Jongwoon expectantly.

Jongwoon sighs, decides that it would probably be less awkward to talk with the lights on, and goes to switch them on, trying to calm himself down. Of course, if all this seemed strange to him, surely it would seem stranger to a mythical creature.

He puts down the toilet cover and sits on it. “I… err… You know how we humans drink… water and stuff? Well once they’ve gone through our bodies, they have to come out as waste, yeah? So that was what I was doing.”

A swish of a tail and Jongwoon looks up to find Donghae nodding. “Okay. Understood.” Then the merman looks at him and innocently asks the question Jongwoon was actually dreading.

“And what was long thing you were holding?”

Jongwoon’s whole-body flush comes back with a vengeance. “What..? You..? What..? Wait, so you mean you don’t have one?”

Jongwoon slaps himself internally. ‘Way to go, asshole. You just asked a merman is he has a dick.’

“Have one?”

“Uhm, it’s… Well, it’s a body part… we humans use to relieve ourselves of the liquid waste… Yeah.”

‘Among other things,’ his mind supplies helpfully.

The merman seems to be deep in thought. “I… see. Strange you humans.”

Jongwoon barely stops himself from commenting that it wasn’t he who was half fish. He frowns when he realizes somethings.

“So how do you get rid of body wastes then?”

Donghae blinks at him. “My hole. Want see, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon flushes inexplicably for the third time in as many minutes and stands up, stammering, “I… uhm… no, it’s okay. I have to go… uhm… make breakfast. Yeah! Breakfast!”

He practically runs from his bathroom.


	7. Breakfast in the bathroom

Jongwoon curses at himself while he makes instant ramen, face still red. What the hell was that conversation?

‘But you did ask,’ his mind reminds him and Jongwoon wants to scream, stabs viciously at the noodles with his chopsticks before taking out his blender. He’s found some produce left over from the last package his mother had sent him and decided just to make a smoothie out of everything. It’d be better than feeding a mythical creature instant ramen, that’s for sure.

He tries to concentrate on chopping everything up but for some reason, the merman’s innocent expression keeps haunting him.

‘Want see, Jongwoon?’

He chops a cucumber more viciously and grits his teeth.

—

Jongwoon is considerably calmer when he goes back to his bathroom and opens the door. The merman was sitting up, humming a little - he seemed to be washing his tail. He perks up when he sees Jongwoon.

“Hello, Jongwoon. Need use seat to relieve self again?”

Jongwoon blushes and shakes his head. “Uhm, no. I just wanted to ask if you want something to eat. I only have ramen and a smoothie though.”

“Ramen? Smoothie?”

Jongwoon sighs. “I’ll just bring both. We could eat together, I guess. Just, uhm, stay put.”

—

If someone told Jongwoon he’d find himself eating breakfast with a merman in his bathroom the morning after he loses his job, he’d probably have called a mental institution on that person. Now though…

Eating with the merman was actually quite interesting. Donghae’s eyes had practically sparkled in wonder when Jongwoon handed him a tumbler and a steel straw.

“What this, Jongwoon?” Donghae asks, examining the straw.

“Uhm, a straw? You put it in the tumbler to drink - see?” Jongwoon demonstrates.

“Oh,” Donghae says. “Me got stabbed once by straw but more bendy.”

‘The hell?’ Jongwoon thinks then remembers that Donghae probably lived the ocean where the plastic garbage situation was getting worse. That saddened him.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Donghae,” Jongwoon says.

Donghae shakes his head. “No worry. All healed, see?” The merman lifts up his tail to show the part that was stabbed.

Jongwoon smiles at him. “Good to know.” Offers the smoothie back. “Here. You try.”

Jongwoon watches as Donghae places the straw between his lips. The merman frowns.

“Jongwoon, straw not work?”

Jongwoon laughs. “Oh, you have to suck for the smoothie to come out.”

Donghae nods and does as he is told. His eyes widen.

“Jongwoon! This smoothie! Is good!”

Jongwoon laughs at the delights in the merman’s voice, takes a seat beside the tub and digs into his instant ramen.

It was the best meal he’s had in a while.


	8. Can’t leave you alone

Jongwoon finds himself smiling as he does the dishes. It’s been a while since he ate with someone - Jongjin had been so busy lately with filming, he’d hardly seen his dongsaeng. Awkward conversations about body parts aside, Jongwoon found that the merman was actually fun to talk to, if not overly curious about things. Jongwoon had spent the better part of their breakfast together explaining how blenders work. Donghae looked absolutely amazed by the concept of blending stuff. He seemed to love the smoothie. He also seemed fine with instant ramen and Jongwoon found himself feeding the merman with his chopsticks. So yes, it was definitely a welcome distraction from the reality of Jongwoon’s unemployment which comes crashing down when Jongwoon sees his calendar, the fifth of the month marked  with a big red circle. Jongwoon sighs. Yup, might as well start looking for a new job today.

He leaves the dishes out to air dry and goes to his room to change. He sees the bandages, however, and wonders if he should change Donghae’s bandages before he leaves, just to be sure. He scoops up the supplies and goes to the bathroom.

“Donghae,” he calls softly as he comes in so he won’t startle the merman. Donghae doesn’t answer and Jongwoon frowns. His frown turns into a panicked look when he finds Donghae slumped over the side of the tub, breathing hard. He runs to Donghae, slipping on some spilled ramen before scrambling back up.

“Oh my god, Donghae!” Jongwoon cries, hauling Donghae’s upper body up and supporting him against his chest. “I swear, I leave you alone for less than half an hour and… what happened?”

“Jong… woon…” Donghae whispers, breathlessly. “I… pulled… string… and… water… gone… Donghae… so… scared…”

It is only then that Jongwoon notices that the tub was almost empty, the drain somehow unplugged.

“So… scared…” Donghae says again, burying his head against Jongwoon’s shoulder. Jongwoon pats the merman’s head awkwardly while reaching forward to put the plug back in. He then reached back to turn on the tap.

Once the tub is filled, Jongwoon gently helps the merman back in. Donghae’s breathing slowly goes back to normal and he opens his eyes. “Friend Jongwoon saved Donghae. Thank you, friend Jongwoon.”

Donghae seems so sincere that Jongwoon forgets to even get mad. “Aish, Donghae. Never do that again, okay? That string is connected to the plug. It keeps the water in. So never, ever pull it.” A frustrated sigh. “And if you do, just put it back in and turn these nobs, okay?”

Donghae looks at him blankly for a moment before nodding. “Okay.”

Jongwoon sighs, looks down at himself. “Urgh, I think I’m going to need a shower.”

“Shower?” Donghae asks, tilting his head to the side curiously in what was slowly becoming a familiar gesture to Jongwoon.

Jongwoon swears when he realizes that he didn’t have any other shower but the one directly above the tub.


	9. Personal space is a human construct

“Turn around,” Jongwoon says as he pulls off his shirt.

Donghae just looks at him, confused. “Why?”

Jongwoon groans in frustration. “Your staring — it’s honestly creeping me out.”

The merman pouts - pouts! - up at him. “Why? Jongwoon first human Donghae see this close. Very interesting.”

Jongwoon tries not to scream. “And you’re the only merman I have ever seen, up close or otherwise, but do you see me staring?”

“If Jongwoon wants, can stare at Donghae too.”

Jongwoon pretends not to hear him and resigns himself to bathing in his boxers for the foreseeable future.

—

Jongwoon sighs as he scrubs at his arms, trying to ignore the merman currently watching him intently from the other side of the tub. He’d chosen to take a bath sitting down in the tub instead of showering which would’ve definitely been more awkward.

He jumps when a cold finger pokes his knee.

“Donghae! What did I say about getting too close while I bathe?”

“No do it?” the merman says cheerfully.

“And what are you doing?”

Donghae pouts at him again. “Sorry. Human tails very funny.”

Jongwoon blanks for a moment. “Oh, you means legs?”

Donghae nod. “Legs. For walking. Very funny. Can touch?”

Jongwoon screams internally. “Donghae, I know this looks very interesting to you and I don’t know how your… people deal with these things but we humans have this little something we call ‘personal space.’”

Donghae just blinks at him.

Jongwoon sighs. “Donghae, you don’t just go around touching people you barely know or asking to touch them.”

“But, Jongwoon friend,” A pause, a splash, and Jongwoon finds himself slapped in the face with the tip of the merman’s tail.

“Jongwoon can touch tail too, if Jongwoon wants.”

Jongwoon dies a little inside.


	10. Favorite color

Jongwoon returns home practically dragging his feet. He’d managed to work something out with the phone company so at least he got a new phone and could finally call his brother. Not that he planned on telling Jongjin anything about yesterday - not losing his job or falling off a bridge or bringing home a merman who was now living in his bath tub. No, Jongjin had too much on his plate right now.

Jongwoon sighs, loosening his tie. He didn’t have much luck with the job search but maybe it was too much to ask to find a new job on the first day. He makes his way to the bathroom, somehow the first thing he thinks of doing is check on the merman in his tub.

“Donghae? Donghae, I’m home,” he says, stepping into the bathroom.

“Oh, Jongwoon. Welcome home,” the merman smiles at him after looking away from the old television Jongwoon had dragged into his bathroom before leaving the apartment. He didn’t really know what mermen did as hobbies but it wasn’t like he had any other option. Jongwoon wonders why he even cared if the merman got bored when he left. He also made some more smoothies for Donghae, which the merman drank based on the empty tumblers scattered all over the bathroom floor. “How was Jongwoon’s day?”

Jongwoon sighs and takes a seat with his back at the side of the tub. “Tiring. You?”

“Boring,” Donghae pouts, turns to lie on his stomach and places both arms on the side of the tub closest to Jongwoon, resting his chin on them. Jongwoon feels the merman shrug against his arm. “The talking box is okay but Donghae likes talking to Jongwoon better.”

Jongwoon turns to look at the merman, oddly touched and realizes something. “Hey, you’re speaking better now.”

“Yes,” Donghae gives him a radiant smile. “A talking squirrel taught Donghae how to speak.”

“What? Oh.” It must have been a morning children’s show but still, Jongwoon is impressed at Donghae’s improvement and tells the merman so.

The merman blushes, swishing his tail in a way that probably meant he was pleased with himself. It was a cute look on the merman and Jongwoon finds himself reaching out to ruffle the merman’s hair.

“You did good today, Donghae. Definitely better than me.” A sigh.

“What’s wrong, Jongwoon?” Donghae asks, expressive eyes showing concern.

“Oh, it’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“But Jongwoon’s a friend. Of course, Donghae will worry.”

“You shouldn’t, really. I mean, we barely know each other. I don’t even know what your favorite food is—”

“Seaweed and tuna and Jongwoon’s smoothies.”

“Or your favorite color—”

“Yellow, like the sun.”

“Or if you have brothers or sisters.”

“One older brother, ten older sisters.”

“…”

“Jongwoon’s turn.”

The human laughs. Somehow, Donghae’s simple-mindedness was refreshing.

“Coffee and beef. I have one younger brother named Jongjin.” A pause. “Emerald green, like the color of your tail.”

“Donghae’s tail?”

“Ah, y-yes,” Jongwoon admits, blushing in spite of himself.

“Okay then,” the merman says, before Jongwoon gets slapped once again by the tip of the merman’s tail. “Jongwoon wants to touch, yes?”

Jongwoon curls up into a ball and cries. And he thought things were going so well.


	11. Of brothers and loan sharks

Jongwoon had just changed into a plain shirt and sweatpants when his phone rings. He sees a familiar number and picks up.

“Hello, Jongjin-ah,” he greets his brother, smiling. "How are you?"

"Hyung! Finally! I was trying to reach you  last night."

"Ah, my phone went for a dive and refused to work so I had to get a new one."

"Was the phone in your pocket when it took a dive?"

"I don't know what you mean, Jongjin-ah. Anyway, has filming finished? Where are you?"

A laugh. "Outside your door, actually, together with a weird looking guy in a floral shirt who's currently trying to flirt with my manager."  
  
"Aish, that' s probably Heechul-hyung but isn't it a bit too early?"

"What?"

"Ah, never mind. Wait, I'll open the door for you," and then Jongwoon sees the lights in his bathroom and panics. "In a bit. I just… have to take care of something. Bye."

He hangs up and rushes to the bathroom.

"Donghae, I’m so sorry but I have to hide you."

The merman just blinks up at him. "Okay, Jongwoon. Where will Donghae hide?"

Jongwoon is stumped. "Good question." He definitely didn't have the time to pull anything fancy. "Ah, never mind. I'll just lock the bathroom door and say the toilet isn't working. I just need you to stay absolutely quiet, okay?"

"Okay, Jongwoon."

"And I'll also have to turn off the lights. I’m sorry, Donghae, but I don't really know how to explain you to anyone right now, not even my brother."

"Jongwoon's brother? Donghae wants to meet this brother. Brother won't eat Donghae, yes?"

Jongwoon laughs in spite of the panic. "Of course, Jongjin won't but he brought company and I… I have to go. I'll come bring you dinner once this is over."

With that, Jongwoon switches off the lights and closes the door.

—

Jongwoon opens his front door to find his brother scrolling through SNS on his phone. Behind him, Heechul was trying to talk to Jongwoon’s manager, Jungsoo, who was studiously ignoring him.

“Err, you guys can come in now,” Jongwoon says.

Jongjin looks at his brother suspiciously but doesn’t comment and steps into the apartment.

Jungsoo follows and so does Heechul. Jongwoon stops him. “Heechul-hyung, aren’t you a bit early? My payment’s not due until the tenth.”

Heechul laughs at him. “Don’t worry, I’m off duty now. Just heard some whispers that your brother and his lovely manager were dropping by so I figured I’d visit as well. Besides, I brought you beer.”

There are so many things wrong with that statement, Jongwoon doesn’t know where to begin. “Fine. Just… don’t cause too much trouble.”

Jongwoon and Heechul proceed to the living room where Jungsoo was starting to lay out food containers on the center table.

“Let’s have dinner, hyung. I brought sushi,” Jongjin says. “And a bit more. Will your friend be joining us?”

“Oh, Heechul-hyung?”

“Yes,” Heechul says, sitting beside Jungsoo and placing an arm behind him on the couch. The manager still refused to look at the other and Jongwoon sensed some history there. “Especially since my dear Jungsoo is here.”

The normally pleasant manager glares at him but doesn’t comment.

“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Jongjin says, standing up. “We did bring a lot. By the way, hyung, can I use your toilet?”


	12. Too easy

“NO!” Jongwoon screams in panic.

Everyone in the room looks at Jongwoon.

“Ohhhkaaaay,” Heechul is the first to recover. “That is definitely suspicious. As if you’re hiding something.” A smirk. “Or someone.”

“W-what?”

Jungsoo snorts. “Speaking from experience, are you, Heechul-ssi?”

“Aish, Jungsoo! That was more than a decade ago. I’ve been saying ‘sorry’ since then.”

Silence, the manager having gone back to ignoring the other again.

“Anyway,” Jongjin says. “What’s wrong with your toilet, hyung?”

“Oh, it’s clogged. The plumber will drop by tomorrow.”

“Oh? How about your work?”

“Err, I’m not going tomorrow. I’ve been stressed lately so…”

Jongjin nods. “You should really take your sick days when you need to, hyung.” A pause. “Is there any toilet I can use?”

“There’s one down the hall.”

A splash and the sound of something falling.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, nothing. Probably from the neighbors. Thin walls and all that.”

“You know I could always get you a better apartment, right, hyung?”

Jongwoon bites his lower lip. He’s never been that good at accepting help even from his brother. Especially from his brother. He tries to laugh it off.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re very rich, Jongjin-ah — no need to flex on me — but you’re still my younger brother and what kind of hyung would I be if I just depended on you.”

Jongjin sighs. He knows this it is a sensitive topic for his hyung so he doesn’t push it. “Okay, hyung. I’ll go use that toilet down the hall. Please go see if Jungsoo-hyung hasn’t killed your friend yet.”

—

Dinner was an awkward affair, especially with Heechul always bringing up the locked bathroom.

“Come on, Jongwoon. We’re all friends here. Is it a girlfriend? A boyfriend? Tell us. We won’t judge.”

Jongwoon just keeps drinking his beer. What did they want him to say - that it was neither but  a half-fish who loves smoothies and keeps asking him to touch his tail? Jongwoon snorts. Right.

A drunk Jongjin laughs. “Ah, I don’t think it’s either, Heechul-hyung. Jongwoon-hyung hasn’t dated since flip phones were a thing.”

Heechul positively cackles at that.

Jungsoo sighs and stands up. “That’s it. You’ve had enough, Jongjin-ah. You still have a schedule at 7:00 AM, remember.”

“Yes, yes, manager-nim,” Jongjin says, standing up on wobbly legs. “Hey, Heechul-hyung. Need a lift?”

Jungsoo sneers. “No, he doesn’t. Besides, we don’t give rides to drunken old men who can’t keep it in their pants.”

“Aish, Jungsoo-ah, that was ONE time…”

Jongwoon watches as the two older men bicker all the way out the door. He then turns to Jongjin.

“Thanks for coming over, Jongjin-ah,” he says, going in for a hug.

“No problem, hyung. Just let me know if you need anything.” He returns the hug briefly. “Oh, and you should really let your girlfriend out of the bathroom already. That couldn’t be comfortable.”

Jongwoon freezes. “What?”

“I saw you laid out two bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen for dinner,” Jongjin says as if that explained everything.

“Bye, hyung. Have a nice night. Don’t enjoy yourself too much.” A wink, and Jongjin is gone.


	13. Second Time

"Donghae?" Jongwoon calls as he opens the bathroom door, balancing a tray of sushi and cold noodles using one hand. "Donghae? Are you still awake?"

He switches on the lights to find the merman curled up into a ball in the tub. Donghae blinks against the sudden brightness, sits up, and looks at him curiously.

"Jongwoon! Is safe now?"

Jongwoon laughs. "Yes. Yes, they're gone. Sorry."

The merman shakes his head. "No worries, Jongwoon. But Donghae is hungry. Jongwoon have food?"

"Yes, actually.” Jongwoon says and makes his way towards the tub. He places the tray on the side of the tub and runs back for a low table and Donghae’s smoothie. He comes back to find the merman sniffing curiously at the sushi.

“Jongwoon! This smells like tuna but is square?”

Jongwoon laughs. “Uhm, yeah. That’s tuna. I remembered you like tuna so I saved you some. You could take it off the rice if you— Oh.” The merman had picked up a piece and placed it in his mouth.

“Square tuna is good even with sticky white thing. Thank you, Jongwoon.” Donghae keeps on eating sushi while Jongwoon eats his cold noodles, occasionally feeding the merman some. Jongwoon had planned to try to teach Donghae to use chopsticks earlier but he was too tired to do it now.

That almost cost him. It’s a good thing Jongjin doesn’t usually pry into these things.

A splash and Jongwoon feels someone breathing in his space. He turns his head to the side to tell Donghae off only to find himself practically nose to nose with the merman. This close, he could almost count the merman's long eyelashes. And his eyes… Jongwoon’s heart skips a beat and he falls back in shock, spilling some of the noodles on himself.

“What the hell, Donghae!”

“Jongwoon smells funny,” the merman says thoughtfully.

“What?”

“Funny and weird.”

Jongwoon blinks. “Oh, maybe it’s the beer. I had only one can though.”

“Beer?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Donghae just keeps looking at him.

“What?”

“Jongwoon spilled noodles on self again. Need another bath, yes?”

Jongwoon blinks and groans.

—

Jongwoon sighs as he lowers himself into the tub for the second time that day. He could feel Donghae’s eyes on him the entire time.

“Donghae…” Jongwoon says warningly.

“Donghae not do anything this time, Jongwoon, promise.”

Jongwoon sighs again, leans back against his end of the tub and closes his  eyes. Today really did take a lot out of him. He drifts off.

—

Jongwoon wakes up to cold fingers on his cheeks and a cold body pressed up against him.

“Jongwoon! Jongwoon!” Someone calls him and he opens his eyes to find teary eyes looking down on him.

“Donghae?”

The merman hugs him. “Jongwoon not wake up. Donghae called name over and over but Jongwoon not wake up. Donghae thought Jongwoon dead!”

Jongwoon finds himself smiling in spite of himself, reaches up to pat the merman’s head. He feels the tip of Donghae’s tail brush up against his leg and it is only then that he realizes their position. The merman was sitting on his lap and clinging to him, both arms wrapped around his neck. Worse, Jongwoon realizes that he’d unconsciously placed his other hand on the merman’s hip to steady him.

Soft, his mind notes. Soft and smooth. Not as slimy as the tail brushing up against his leg.

He snatches that hand away quickly, cheeks burning.

“Uhm, Donghae,” he says, trying to get the merman to let go. “I’m okay, see? I was just so tired, I fell asleep.”

Donghae finally looks up, sniffling - so he really was crying.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Jongwoon asks curiously.

“Sleep? Yes. But Donghae’s people try not close eyes when sleep. Might get eaten if close eyes.”

“Oh.” Jongwoon says, filing that information away.

Donghae wriggles against him and Jongwoon remembers what he’d been trying to do. “Ah, Donghae. Can you please get off me now? I have to rinse off now.”

“Oh, okay,” Donghae says, shifting off the human. “Sorry, Jongwoon.”

A pause and then.

“Donghae can help rinse Jongwoon off, yes?”

Jongwoon screams internally, chooses not to answer.


	14. Clean

Jongwoon sighs as he makes his way to the bathroom. It has been almost a week since he'd lost his job and he was getting desperate. He'd stayed up practically all night sending in as many applications as he could and was actually planning to walk around the area in search of part-time work today. His plans literally go down the drain, however, when he opens the bathroom door to be greeted by a weird, fishy smell. He pinches his nose.

"What the fuck! Donghae!"

"Yes, Jongwoon?" The merman says, sitting up on the tub which appeared to be the source of the fishy smell. The water in the tub had somehow turned green overnight and were those scales?

"Donghae, what's going on? Why are there scales in my bath tub."

"Donghae changed scales," Donghae says, beaming up at Jongwoon and proudly showing off his tail. "See? All new!"

"You what now?" Jongwoon feels a headache coming along.

"Change scales. Every change of moon, Donghae changes scales."

"Urgh, is it always this… messy?"

"Donghae not know. Ocean just wash scales away. Why tub not do it, Donghae not know."

Jongwoon sighs and folds up his sweatpants, takes a hose, a pail, and other cleaning equipment out of the cabinet under the sink. Well, his tub was due for a cleaning anyway.

—

Jongwoon huffs as he scrubs at the tub with a brush, back protesting and sweat running down his bare torso. He'd managed to drain the tub of the slimy green liquid after getting rid of the scales and was currently working on the getting it back to a usable condition.

Donghae sits on a stool near the tub, his tail submerged in a pail of water, watching Jongwoon work intently. Jongwoon had a difficult time setting the entire thing up and had an even more difficult time getting the merman out of the tub, the green liquid making Donghae's body more slippery than usual. They tried several times before ending up with Donghae clinging to Jongwoon's neck and Jongwoon lifting the merman up bridal style. Jongwoon's barely there muscles cried out in pain as he carried the merman the short distance to the stool. Jongwoon had chucked his shirt off soon after that, realizing that the merman had succeeded in wiping some of the green slime on it.

Jongwoon stands once he is satisfied that nothing would stain, douses the tub with more cleanser before hosing it down. He then puts the plug back in and starts filling it with water, taking a seat on the side of the tub and wiping his sweat with his discarded shirt. He then takes a look at Donghae and cringes. The merman was still practically covered in the slimy liquid, scales scattered randomly in his hair and torso. Nope, there was no way Jongwoon was letting the merman back in his tub like that. Jongwoon freezes as he realizes what that would entail.

"Hey, Donghae," Jongwoon tries. "Is there any chance you know how to clean yourself?"

"Clean?"

"Bathe? Rinse off?"

Donghae has the gall to laugh at him. "Silly Jongwoon. Donghae no need to bathe. Donghae always in water so always clean."

And for the nth time since Jongwoon met the merman, the human dies a bit more inside.

—

Jongwoon sighs as he pours shampoo on Donghae's head. He'd placed the merman on the floor beside the bath tub after giving the merman a literal hosing down to get rid of most of the scales and the slime - "Wait! Jongwoon! Stop! Strong water hurts more than time Donghae got hit by baby whale! Ouch! Jongwoon!" - and was now concentrating on getting the fishy smell out. He waits for any protest before starting to massage the shampoo onto the merman's hair, the calming scent of lavender filling his nose. The shampoo was part of a set he'd received from a colleague, a surprising find tucked away together with his cleaning supplies. The set also included some bath salts and a bath bomb Jongwoon was planning to surprise Donghae with later.

"Jongwoon, what is good smell?"

Jongwoon smiles. "Oh, it's lavender shampoo. It's used to clean hair."

"Okay," Donghae says, leaning against Jongwoon's legs. "Smells good. Jongwoon's hands also feel good."

Jongwoon finds himself blushing and curses at himself - 'Stop it, you pervert. He doesn't mean it like that' - before using the hose to rinse the shampoo off. He then picks up a sponge and pours some soap on it before handing it to the merman.

Donghae blinks up at him. "Jongwoon, what is yellow thing?"

Jongwoon just sighs - can’t say he didn’t try - and begins scrubbing at Donghae's back, deeming it the safest place to start.

It’s done way too fast for his liking, however, and Jongwoon swallows as he gets off the side of the tub to face Donghae, heart pounding hard against his chest for some reason. Why the hell was he feeling so nervous? Wasn't this supposed to be like bathing a pet turtle or something?

Jongwoon sees Donghae look up at him with those puppy eyes and Jongwoon tries hard not to scream, takes a small towel instead, pours some of the cleanser he uses on his own face, and gently dabs at the merman's face, tells Donghae to close his eyes as he rinses it off. He then takes the soap-lathered sponge again and begins rubbing it onto the merman's neck and chest. Jongwoon almost loses it when he passes a nipple and the merman lets out a giggle - "Tickles, Jongwoon" - rushes to get everything done before he dies of embarrassment.

And then he realizes there still was the matter of the merman's tail.

Jongwoon wonders if it still isn’t too late to throw himself off a bridge.


	15. A Sudden Proposal

Donghae watches expectantly as Jongwoon prepares himself to clean the merman's tail. When Jongwoon comes to think of it, he hadn't really paid that much attention to Donghae's tail, even if Donghae seemed to shove it in his face whenever the merman could. It was a pretty tail, he supposes, and somehow, the newly changed scales seemed to make it glisten even more when the light hits it in a certain way. Jongwoon thinks he would have appreciated the tail's beauty more if only Donghae was not so insistent that he touch it. He sighs, reaching for the sponge.

He asks the merman to lie on his stomach and begins with his back, carefully running the sponge across the length of the tail, trying to ignore the sounds Donghae was making. He finishes the task quickly, deciding to leave the tip of the merman’s tail for later. He then asks Donghae to face him again so he could clean the front part.

Donghae giggles as Jongwoon runs the sponge over the juncture where the merman's torso ended and his scales began. Jongwoon remembers the feeling of that part under his fingers and suppresses the urge to bang his head against the nearest wall.

Jongwoon moves the sponge further down, trying not to think of what he was doing. 'Think ugly, scary thoughts, Jongwoon,' he tells himself. 'The fifth of the month. Your landlady. Heechul-hyung in a tutu.'

Donghae giggles again and Jongwoon's hand slips. He curses as suddenly his bare hand comes into contact with the scales in front of him. Had Donghae been a human, it would have been pretty awkward given the location. Oh, who was he kidding - it already was pretty awkward with the merman looking at him with a shocked expression, a blush tinting his cheeks - it was a very becoming look on the already attractive merman but Jongwoon would rather not dwell too much on that thought. He moves his hand, causing the merman to let out an embarrassing sound - somewhere between a moan and a squeak - and Jongwoon panics as he feels something fall off.

"What the fuck?" Jongwoon says when he sees what fell off. On the palm of his hand was a shimmering scale of the prettiest emerald green.

A sudden movement and Jongwoon finds himself tackled to the ground by an excited merman.

"What the hell, Donghae?"

Donghae clings to him, arms going around the human's neck, tail swishing happily as he wriggled against him.

"Donghae so happy Donghae was right! Special scale fall off, means that Jongwoon is Donghae's destined mate. Jongwoon will marry Donghae, yes?"

Jongwoon's head spins.

"What?"

Special scale? Marry? Destined mate? Nothing made sense. What the hell was the half-fish talking about?

Donghae nuzzles his cold nose against Jongwoon's neck and it all becomes too much for Jongwoon's poor braincell to process. The human finds himself falling in a dead faint, the merman's worried expression the last thing he sees before he blacks out.


	16. Take Things Slowly

Jongwoon wakes up to the feeling of water splashing on his face. He sputters as he opens his eyes to find Donghae holding the hose in front of his face.

“Jongwoon! What happened? Fell asleep again? Donghae worried.”

“I guess,” Jongwoon says, shaking his head. “I just had this weirdest dream that involved a scale and you saying that we are destined and asking me to marry you.” A laugh. “Weird right?”

It is only then that Jongwoon notices the sad expression on the merman’s face and the glittering scale the merman was holding to his chest.

“Oh,” Jongwoon says in realization. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

They sit in awkward silence for a while, Donghae looking at Jongwoon and Jongwoon looking anywhere but at the merman.

“Donghae—”

“Jongwoon—”

A sigh.

“Look, it’s not like I don’t want to marry you but…”

‘You’re half-fish! How will that even work?’

“… we barely know each other. Look, Donghae, you seem like a good person but one week isn’t enough to fall in love.”

“Fall in love?” Donghae says, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes!” Jongwoon exclaims, frustrated. “I don’t know how things work for your people but it’s kind of important to me that I love the person I marry, okay?”

“So Jongwoon not marry Donghae? Not love Donghae?”

“It’s not—” And Jongwoon makes the mistake of looking up to see that the merman was crying, still clutching his scale to his chest. It makes Jongwoon’s heart hurt.

“Aww, no. That’s not what I meant. It’s just…”

“So Jongwoon no accept Donghae’s gift?”

A quiver of the merman's lips and Jongwoon gives up, pulling the merman into his arms, surprising even himself. “Hey, I'm sorry. Please don’t cry. It’s not like I’m rejecting you…”

“You’re not?”

Jongwoon shakes his head. “No. It's just… Let’s not rush into things, okay?”

“B-but, Donghae’s special scale…” The merman looks up at him, pouting.

“… is awfully pretty. I don’t think I deserve that gift.”

“But is yours!” Donghae insists, starting to cry again.

Jongwoon lifts up a hand to wipe away Donghae’s tears and sighs. "Urgh, fine. Give it here then."

Donghae hands over the scale and Jongwoon wonders what he was supposed to do with it.

"Thank you, Donghae," Jongwoon says, letting out a small smile. "I'll keep this safe."

Jongwoon yelps as Donghae hugs him again and begins crying against his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Donghae shakes his head. "Nothing. Donghae just happy Jongwoon not send Donghae away. Donghae is Jongwoon's only, no other's."

Jongwoon's heart skips a beat at the heart-felt declaration, if a bit confused. He doesn't say anything though, just holds the crying merman until his tears stop.


	17. Drunken Negotiations

Jongwoon sighs, swinging the grocery bag in his hand as he walks by the river - the same river that he fell into and was saved from by Donghae. For the first time, he wonders what the merman was doing this far from the sea. Well, on the plus side, Donghae being this far away from home actually saved his life. On the other…

Aish, how did he always end up in situations like this? He kicks a stone in his path rather viciously, is surprised when someone lets out a string of curses. He is prepared to run for his life when a familiar voice calls out to him.

"Jongwoon-ah? Is that you, you punk?"

He looks closer and realizes that the lump on the side of the river that he'd mistaken for a trash bag was in fact Heechul in a biker jacket. Several cans of beer were scattered around him and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the other was drunk off his ass.

"Heechul-hyung," Jongwoon says as he approaches. "Good evening. Haven't you had too much to drink yet?"

"Too much? Nonsense. Come here. Drink with me, Jongwoon-ah."

"Ah, but I have to go home and—"

"I insist," Heechul says in his debt collector voice and Jongwoon finds himself sitting down.

—

"Ah, Jongwoon-ah! Life is so unfair! My Jungsoo still refuses to talk to me after all these years. I said I was sorry. I said I would change but he won't believe me!"

Heechul and Jongwoon had been taking turns ranting about everything under the sun for the past half an hour - which was mostly about Jungsoo on Heechul's part. Jongwoon, on the other hand…

"Yeah, tell me about it. Life is a fucking bitch!" Jongwoon says, taking a drink out of his fourth can of beer. "And last week was the worst! I lost my job and I fell of a bridge and now I'm almost engaged to a fish!"

Heechul stops to look at him thoughtfully. "A fish? Wait, is that code for something or… Aha! So it really was a girlfriend in your bathroom that night!"

"Ah, hyung. If only it were that simple. Anyway, speaking of fish, I really have to go prepare dinner now. Thanks for the beer."

"For your girlfriend?"

Jongwoon shrugs.

"Oh, and don't think I didn't pick up that bit about losing your job. Seriously, I'd be dropping by for a collection on the tenth."

Jongwoon sighs. "Please, hyung. Can't you let it go for another month? I promise to really start paying once I get a new job."

Heechul frowns. "Well, if you really need it, I hear there's a job open at the local grocery. Want me to put in a word for you?"

"That would be great, hyung. Thank you." A suspicious glance. "Why are you doing this again?"

Heechul smirks. "You know why."

"Fine, I'll send you the photos tomorrow. Urgh, why Jungsoo-hyung still hasn’t gotten a restraining order on you, I'll never know."

"Oh, he's just being a tsundere. He secretly likes the attention."

"If you say so."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Thank you for your generosity, Heechul-hyung."

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you as always, Jongwoon-ah. See you next month. Oh, and good luck with you girlfriend. Just don't forget to always use protection."

Jongwoon pretends not to hear that last bit.


	18. Missed

Jongwoon stares into space as he waits for the water to boil. He’d gotten Donghae some convenience store sushi but he was having ramen as usual. His head throbs and he curses himself for giving in to Heechul’s invitation.

‘Well,’ he reminds himself. ‘At least you  got a job referral and another free month out of it.’

The water boils and he mechanically puts in the noodles and seasoning. Once he’s done, he scoops everything into a bowl, places it on the tray, and makes his way to the bathroom.

“Donghae?” He calls.

The merman looks away from the television and excitedly greets him. “Jongwoon! You’re back! Look at what Donghae found. Is funny story about mermaid and octopus witch and talking crab. Talking crab seems very familiar but Donghae can’t remember why.”

Jongwoon can’t help but smile in spite of his headache as he settles in beside the tub. It seems Donghae found the Little Mermaid and his speech was improving some more.

“Oh, so how much did the story get right? About your world, I mean.”

“Hmm, ocean is lots messier. Thank Poseidon no octopus witch.” A pause. “Though Donghae heard some story about mermaid choosing to live on land and growing legs, always thought it wasn’t true.”

Jongwoon nods, taking off the lid of Donghae’s sushi set and handing it to him.

“Thank you, Jongwoon!” Donghae says happily before starting to eat.

Jongwoon slurps at his noodles and watches as on screen, various sea animals burst into song as the mermaid-turned-human and her prince share a kiss.

“Jongwoon, what are they doing?”

Jongwoon spits out his noodles and coughs.

Donghae reaches out to pat the human’s back. “Jongwoon, what’s wrong?”

Jongwoon takes a drink of his water to try to get his coughing under control and to buy time, can’t decide which was worse - this or that time the merman asked him about peeing.

Donghae keeps rubbing his back helpfully, looking at him with concern. “You’re awfully red, Jongwoon. You sure you’re okay?”

Jongwoon nods. “Ah, yes. It’s just… they’re kissing, okay?”

Donghae tilts his head to the side as he always does when he’s confused. “Kissing?”

“Uh, yes.”

“What is kissing? Donghae thought they were going to eat each other.”

The merman says it so innocently but the image it produces in Jongwoon’s drunk brain is definitely anything but. He coughs.

“Uhm, yes. Well, when uh, two people love each other, they, uh, usually do that to show affection.”

“Oh, so that’s how humans show love,” Donghae says, a thoughtful expression on his face, before he is looking intently at Jongwoon. “Jongwoon! Let’s kiss!”

Jongwoon spits out his water. “WHAT?”

“Let’s kiss,” Donghae says with a determined look. “Donghae loves Jongwoon so we should kiss, okay?”

“Okay,” Jongwoon finds himself saying dumbly, for a moment captivated by the look in the merman’s eyes before coming to his senses and shaking his head. “No! Not okay! Donghae, we’ve been over this. We barely know each other for you to really fall in love with me.”

Donghae remains silent for a while, eyes welling with tears. Jongwoon groans. Urgh, why was he so weak to those tears.

“Fine! Close your eyes then.”

Donghae looks up, surprised. “Jongwoon will…”

“Yeah. Now close your eyes before I change my mind.”

Donghae does so, heart pounding strangely, almost like the time Donghae had to run from a school of electric eels but more pleasant? He waits and waits until he feels something warm touch his forehead.

He opens his eyes to find Jongwoon close, face still red.

“There. Your kiss,” the human says before going back to eating his noodles, determinedly not looking at Donghae.

Donghae reaches up a hand to his forehead in amazement, the thing Jongwoon did making him feel warm all over. The merman finds himself smiling stupidly for a while but frowns when he realizes something.

“Jongwoon, you missed. Donghae’s lips are down here. Hey, Jongwoon.”

The human pretends not to hear him.


	19. New Normal

Jongwoon walks nervously to the local grocery a couple of blocks away from his apartment. He’d received a call from Heechul that the owner wanted to meet him. He finds himself smiling, when he remembers the conversation he had with Donghae before leaving.

“Interview?”

“Ah, it’s for a job. Heechul-hyung recommended me for a job so I’m going for an interview with the owner to see if she wants to hire me.”

Donghae looks confused. “Why does Jongwoon need a job? Why not just stay with Donghae the whole day? Is Jongwoon getting bored with Donghae?”

Jongwoon fixes his tie in the mirror, then takes it off. It was probably overkill for a job interview at a grocery anyway. “Ah, no. It’s not like that. We’re… running really low on money and we kinda need money to eat and continue living in this apartment.”

“Money?”

“Ah, you probably don’t even have that in the ocean. Well, I’m off now. Wish me luck?”

“Jongwoon has Donghae’s special scale, yes? Will bring luck.” The merman says, smiling at him brightly. “Fighting, Jongwoon!”

Jongwoon comes back to the present, hands clasping the clear locket he’d hung around his neck, Donghae’s scale glinting prettily inside. It did comfort him a bit for some reason. The grocery comes within his sight and he hurries to it. He lets out a sigh before opening the door and entering.

—

The owner, Mrs. Cho, was a kind old woman who reminded Jongwoon of his own grandmother. When he came into her office, she asked him to sit down and served him tea. It seemed she’d taken Heechul at his word and decided to hire him. Jongwoon was grateful and almost hugged the old woman. Mrs. Cho smiled.

“You start tomorrow at 1:00. You’ll be in the seafood section with my grandson by the way.”

Seafood? Fate really was having a laugh at his expense, wasn’t she?

Jongwoon bows deeply and thanks her again.

“Ah, such a polite young man. I wish my grandson was more like you.”

Jongwoon didn’t know what to say to that.

—

Jongwoon comes home humming cheerfully. He’d gotten Chinese takeout to celebrate the end of his unemployment. Sure, the pay wasn’t as big as he was used to but at least he has the morning free. He’d passed by a café that was looking for a part-timer and was planning to see if he could get a job there as well.

Donghae instantly looks up the moment he opens the bathroom door.

“Jongwoon! Welcome home! So how did the interview go?”

Jongwoon smiles widely at him. “I got the job. I guess we won’t be homeless come next month.”

“That’s great!” Donghae says, smiling back. “Donghae doesn’t like being homeless. Donghae’s special scale brought luck, yes?”

Jongwoon laughs and ruffles the merman’s hair. “Of course it did.” He then takes his seat beside the tub and start unpacking the takeout on the low table he’s kept in the bathroom. He’d been spending so much time in there really, he’d move even his couch in there if he could. They eat their dinner together, Jongwoon feeding Donghae orange chicken and fried rice and vegetables using his own chopsticks. He listens as Donghae chatters on about the variety show he’s been watching and Jongwoon wonders when this had become his new normal.


	20. First Meetings

Jongwoon sets out the next morning at around 10:00 AM. He’d had a late breakfast with Donghae and left the merman some leftover Chinese take-out for lunch and dinner. He’d also introduced the merman to his collection of manga. Sure, the merman didn’t know how to read, but he seemed to find the pictures entertaining enough. He’d started going through the stack of random series Jongwoon had placed next to the tub when the human had last checked on him before going out. Jongwoon finds himself smiling as he remembers Donghae's sparkling eyes as he'd started going through the first manga he picked .

He passes the café he’d noticed yesterday and sees the sign advertising the job. Luckily, he did have a bit of time. He pushes the door to the café open and walks in.

The man behind the counter looks up and greets him.

"Good morning. Welcome to the Little Prince. What will you be having today?"

Jongwoon smiles back. "Uhm, I'm not here to buy. My name is Kim Jongwoon. I saw the sign outside and was wondering if I could apply for the job."

"Oh?" The man's smile widens. "That's great! We just need a little help around here during the morning rush. The shift runs from 8:00 AM to 12:00 NN."

"Uhm…"

"Oh, I'm Ryeowook. Kim Ryeowook. I'm the owner of this café."

—

Jongwoon smiles as Ryeowook starts talking about his café and the part-time job. It was easy enough. Jongwoon just had to bring people their orders and generally help out behind the counter. The pay was generous considering what the job entailed. He is about to leave when Ryeowook notices his locket.

"Oh, that's a pretty pendant," Ryeowook says, curiously. "Where'd you get it?"

Jongwoon clutches at the locket reflexively. "Oh, uhm, someone gave it to me."

"Oh?" Ryeowook raises his brow. "Someone special?"

Jongwoon freezes. "Uhm, well, you could say that."

Ryeowook's expression falls for a moment before he recovers. "Well, I guess I won't keep you for long. See you tomorrow, Jongwoon-hyung."

Jongwoon smiles back. "Thank you so much, Ryeowook-ssi." He bows to the other and makes his way out the door and onto the streets.

—

Jongwoon finds himself sharing his shift at the grocery with a moody thirty-year old named Kyuhyun. Jongwoon  had changed into a t-shirt with the grocery's logo on it and was introduced to the younger man who turned out to be the owner's grandson.

Jongwoon watches as Kyuhyun plays mobile games on him phone. Their shift is thankfully uneventful - few people seemed to go shopping for seafood on Mondays - and before they know it, it's almost closing time. Jongwoon and Kyuhyun start putting things away in silence when a frazzled Ryeowook comes running into their section.

"Oh, Jongwoon-hyung? You work here too?  I'll be needing a kilogram of shrimp, please."

Jongwoon is about to go scoop some shrimps into a bag when Kyuhyun surprises him by doing it for him. The younger man then goes to Ryeowook and hands him the bag.

"Oh, Kyukyu? You're here. I didn't see you!"

Jongwoon blinks when the sullen younger man actually smiles at the shorter one. "Hey, Ryeonggu. It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Things are a bit busy at the café. It's a good thing Jongwoon-hyung would start helping out tomorrow." A smile. "Do drop by, Kyukyu. I've missed talking to you."

"Okay, I'll do that. See you around."

Jongwoon and Kyuhyun watch Ryeowook walk away and towards the counter. The younger turns to the older and raises a brow.

"So you're the new part-timer at the Little Prince, hyung?"

Jongwoon nods. "Uhm, yeah. I figured I could use the extra money."

Kyuhyun just stares at him, calculating. "Do you have a girlfriend, hyung?"

Jongwoon blushes, taken aback at the question. "Uhm, I…" Donghae's face flashes through his mind and he stammers. "Well, it's complicated."

Kyuhyun seems to let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess that's good enough." He then goes back to his game and ignores Jongwoon until it's time to clock out.


	21. Manga and Mayhem

Jongwoon makes his way home after work. He is tired, true, but this was infinitely better than being unemployed and wondering if he'd be able to afford next month's rent. He passes by a bungeo-ppang stall which wasn't there earlier, stops to buy some of the fish-shaped treats for Donghae. He really wonders if he’s been feeding the merman properly. It still didn't seem right to be feeding a mythical creature convenience store/fast food. Well, at least he got him sushi when he could and smoothies were at least organic.

Jongwoon smiles as he goes up the steps to his apartment two at a time, looking forward to presenting Donghae with the treats. He opens the door to his apartment and goes straight to the bathroom.

"Donghae, I'm home. I brought you something."

The merman startles, dropping the manga he had been reading. "O-oh, Jongwoon. W-welcome home. I didn't hear you come in." For some reason, his cheeks were flushed and he was looking anywhere but at Jongwoon. Jongwoon frowns at the unusual behavior.

"Donghae, are you okay?" He sets the bungeo-ppang down on the low table and approached the merman, laying a hand on his forehead. The merman squeaks and pulls away. This makes Jongwoon even more worried. "Donghae, what's wrong? I was just checking your temperature. You're awfully red." The merman squeaks again and hides his face in his hands.

It is then that Jongwoon notices the discarded manga. His eyes widen at the cover, blushing in turn. That definitely wasn't his - he knew all the manga he owned like the back of his hand and he is so sure that he doesn't own any yaoi, curses Heechul under his breath. He picks it up and wishes he could burn his eyeballs at the explicit scene it was turned to. No wonder Donghae seemed so traumatized.

"Donghae? Hey, look, I'm sorry you had to see this. Donghae?"

The merman peeks at him from behind his fingers. "Jongwoon, I don’t know why but I feel strange. Those persons in the manga…”

Jongwoon takes a deep breath, doesn't know whether to curse or cry. Of course, of course this would happen.

"Donghae," he says carefully. "Whatever you've seen in that manga, try to forget about it, okay? I will… that's not how it works, got it."

Donghae stares at him for a while before nodding, cheeks still flushed. "Okay, Jongwoon. If you say so. I’ll try to. But still, I don't understand what 'it' is. Is it another weird human custom like kissing? There was kissing at first so I thought…”

Jongwoon stands up abruptly, interrupting the merman before he could narrate further.

“Jongwoon?” Donghae looks curiously up at him. “Now it’s you who’s all red. Do you feel hot? Maybe you need a shower, yes?”

Jongwoon flushes.

"Donghae… that is… I… have to go cook us dinner. Yes, dinner! I'll be right back."

The human then hightails out of the bathroom, promising to burn the cursed manga the first chance he gets.


	22. Maybe Finally

Donghae watches Jongwoon sleep, head resting on his arms at the side of the tub.

The human did not have to go to work today and he'd spent his day off cleaning the bathroom. Donghae pouts as he remembers looking forward to another cleaning as the human had done the day his special scale fell off, only for Jongwoon to hand him the sponge and the hose telling him to do the cleaning himself. Donghae wonders if the human would have given in had he pushed the issue but then Jongwoon looked so tired, the merman decided not to cause him any more trouble. So he cleaned himself as best as he could and rinsed off only to look up and find the human watching him with a strange expression. He’d tilted his head to the side and asked "Jongwoon, what's wrong? Did I miss a spot?"

The human promptly turned red and looked away, busied himself with looking through the cabinet under the sink. He finally emerged with a small round thing he called a 'bath bomb.'

"What is a 'bath bomb', Jongwoon?" Donghae had asked. Jongwoon just smiled and peeled off the wrapper. A few minutes later, Donghae watched in fascination as swirls of purple and pink dissolved into the bath water, the scent of lavender filling the bath room.

"Do you like it?" Jongwoon had asked. "It says it’s organic so I don't think it'd cause much harm."

Donghae nods, scoops up some of the scented water in his hands in wonder. "It smells good and looks so pretty. Thank you, Jongwoon." He said sincerely, meeting the human's eyes.

Jongwoon coughed and looked away again, embarrassed.

Donghae smiles at the human’s shyness, couldn’t stop himself from teasing him. "Join me, Jongwoon?"

Jongwoon made a strangled noise then and practically ran from the room.

—

Jongwoon returns almost a half an hour later with their lunch and some pieces of paper - "bills", the human had called them. He drained the tub and helped Donghae rinse off with the hose before filling the tub again. They then settled down for their lunch with Donghae watching a noontime variety show and Jongwoon looking through the bills, grumbling the entire time -- that is, until both got bored and Jongwoon ended up trying to teach Donghae how to write his name by tracing the hangul characters onto the merman's palm. The merman giggled at the ticklish feeling but kept practicing the way Jongwoon taught him until he finally got the hang of it. He had looked up excitedly to show Jongwoon, only to find the human fast asleep.

Which brings us back to the present. Donghae watches in fascination as the human's back rises and falls as he breathes. He swallows, admiring the human's carefree face, before reaching up a tentative hand to tuck a lock of hair behind the human's ear. Donghae then takes the opportunity to trail a finger across the creases on the human's forehead, his eyes, his cheeks, and finally, down to his lips. Jongwoon lets out a sigh then and Donghae quickly retracts his hand at the feeling of warm breath against his fingers, blushing furiously. And he suddenly remembers the feeling of those lips against his forehead — Jongwoon had said that was a kiss but why did the all the dramas and manga seem to suggest otherwise.

Donghae feels his heart beat faster as he gets an idea. Slowly, carefully, he leans forward until his nose practically touches the human's. He doesn't think he's ever been this close to Jongwoon before and his heart pounds even harder. He sees his precious scale glinting against the Jongwoon’s chest from a gap in his shirt and, for some reason, Donghae suddenly feels as though he were running out of time. The feeling seems to give the merman the courage he needs and Donghae finally close the gap and presses his lips against that of his destined mate.


	23. Jongwoon Overreacts

Jongwoon wakes up to the scent of lavender filling his senses and something soft and warm on his lips. For a moment, he thinks that he is still dreaming — his dreams having recently gone down that road several times now and he’d gotten tired of rationalizing them. So he gives in, begins to gently move his lips against those pressed against his. Jongwoon hears a gasp and his eyes shoot open meeting surprised golden ones. He hurriedly sits up and scrambles backwards.

"Donghae! What the fuck?" Jongwoon exclaims, trying to mask the way his heart was beating hard against his chest with anger. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get too close to me when I fall asleep?"

The merman just looks at him, eyes beginning to tear up, fingers against his lips. "I'm sorry, Jongwoon, but I just wanted to… didn't you like it?"

Jongwoon runs his hand through his hair in frustration. "That's not the point!"

"I'm really sorry, Jongwoon. I didn’t think it would upset you. I won't do it again. Please don’t be mad. Don't you like me anymore?" The merman's lips quiver as he says this and Jongwoon has to look away.

"That's not the point either." Jongwoon lets out a frustrated sigh. Somewhere deep within, he knows he is overreacting but the dreams and the not-so-innocent thoughts and now the kiss were finally taking their toll on his sanity. Sure, it was just a kiss, far from Jongwoon's first. Unfortunately, the same could not probably be said of the merman and Jongwoon didn't want to dwell too much on how that makes him feel. "Look, Donghae, I’m sorry too but I can’t do this right now. I have to go."

"Jongwoon? What? But where are you going? Jongwoon?" Donghae asks, swishing his tail in agitation. It was the first time Jongwoon ever acted that way to him and he didn't know how to react.

"Out. Just… Don't wait up," the human says before walking out the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

—

Jongwoon finds himself walking down the familiar path towards the Little Prince. Now that he's had a bit of air, he realizes that maybe he had been a bit of an ass to Donghae. If he were being honest, the kiss wasn't so horrible. It was, in fact, one of the more innocent kisses he'd received while he was asleep. What made him lash out defensively were actually the feelings that that one kiss managed to awaken in him.

He'd told Donghae over and over again that you can't fall in love with someone you barely know and that all that love at first sight bullshit they tried to feed you was not real. But then, somewhere between shared meals and meaningless conversations and all those near-misses, Jongwoon found himself wondering at the possibility of him being attracted to the merman. Not that it would be difficult — Donghae is honest and straightforward and genuinely seemed to care about him and, who was he kidding, the merman was beautiful, fish tail and all. Jongwoon sighs. And maybe that was the problem.

There is a reason why he's been avoiding relationships for so long. He has been hurt before and really, falling in love with a merman — that was just asking for it.

"Jongwoon-hyung?"

He looks up to see Ryeowook walking towards him, a sullen Kyuhyun in tow. He'd never really had the chance to ask how the two knew each other but his shift-mate seemed to be quite attached to the café owner.

"Ryeowook-ssi, Kyuhyun-ssi. Good evening." He greets them.

Ryeowook looks at him with concern. "Are you okay, hyung? You seem a bit distracted."

"Ah, yes. I've got a bit on my mind."

"Want to talk about it? Kyu and I are just heading out for dinner. You could join us if you want to. Right, Kyukyu?"

Jongwoon senses a murderous aura from over his boss's shoulder, looks up to see Kyuhyun looking at him boredly. "Sure. I mean, if Jongwoon-hyung doesn't mind that we're getting Japanese food."

Japanese? Jongwoon mentally checks his budget, is about to decline when Ryeowook says, " Come on, hyung. It will be my treat. Some sort of welcome dinner?"

Jongwoon looks at the younger man in awe. "Thank you, Ryeowook-ssi. That's awfully kind of you."

Behind him, Kyuhyun snorts. Ryeowook pretends not to hear. "Great! Let's go then."

\--

Of course, there is sake. Jongwoon begins to wonder at his choice of company. Why did he always seem to get involved with people with an insanely high alcohol tolerance?

"So, Jongwoon-hyung," Ryeowook was saying. "Are you sure there's no one you'd want to call to let know that you'd be staying up late?"

Donghae's face flashes through Jongwoon's mind and he downs his glass of sake. Nope, he was not going to think about it. Besides, if it was a matter of food, he's quite sure there was still a tumbler of smoothie left from their lunch.

"Aish, Ryeonggu," Kyuhyun says when Jongwoon doesn’t answer. "Of course Jongwoon-hyung has someone. Don’t you, hyung?" The youngest looks at him meaningfully.

Jongwoon sighs. "Yes. No. I don't know."

"Hyung?"

"There is someone… He keeps telling me he likes me."

"Oh," Ryeowook asks. "And do you like him back?"

Jongwoon sighs. "I… It's complicated."

Kyuhyun scoffs. "How complicated could it be? It's either you like a person or you don't."

"Kyukyu…" Ryeowook says warningly.

"I… don’t dislike him," Jongwoon finds himself saying. "But he's just a dumb fish who eats my food and uses up my water and keeps saying and doing things that confuse the hell out of me." A pause. "And yet he's also the one who greets me at the end of the day and asks me how my day went and forces me to take a break when he sees that I've been working too hard."

"I don't see what's the problem, then," Kyuhyun says, echoing Jongwoon's earlier thoughts. "Hyung, you may think you don't like him like that yet but it seems to be getting there. Why don’t you just see how it goes instead of thinking too much about it?”

Jongwoon sighs, throws back another shot of sake and doesn't answer.


	24. Left Behind

Donghae sits motionless in the bath tub, puffy eyes trained on the bathroom door. He'd been crying since Jongwoon had left a couple of hours ago, wondering where the human had gone, or if he was even coming back. Donghae does not understand why Jongwoon had been so mad, had lashed out at him when all Donghae wanted to do was show his destined mate his feelings in a way the human would understand. Donghae touches his lips in wonder. For a moment there, he was sure his Jongwoon had started to return the kiss and if all the dramas Donghae had watched so far were to be believed, kissing someone back meant that you at least considered them a prospective mate. But then Jongwoon had gotten mad and lashed out at Donghae, somehow resembling the pet pufferfish he had as a kid, and that kind of ruined everything. Donghae can handle an embarrassed or sarcastic Jongwoon just fine but he does not know how to deal with an angry Jongwoon. Donghae places a hand against his chest, his heart hurting worse than it ever had before. He's heard of it in the same manner as merfolk who exchanged their tails for legs — merfolk dying of a broken heart. He'd never believed those bed time stories before but now…

"Jongwoon," Donghae wails for what seems like the thousandth time, as though by calling the human's name, he'd suddenly appear and make everything alright. He sees a flicker of light from underneath the door and as though his body has a mind of its own, he heaves himself out of the tub and onto its rim.

"Jongwoon?" he calls again, hoping that it wasn't just his imagination. Maybe Jongwoon did not leave him. Maybe Jongwoon did return to tell him that he wasn't mad anymore and that he returned Donghae's feelings. With such hopeful thoughts, the merman pushes himself off the side of the tub and onto the bathroom floor, crawling slowly to the door. He knows his tail wasn't made for this so he is grateful when he finally reaches it.

"Jongwoon?" he says, leaning against the door. "Jongwoon, please. I'm sorry." He is crying again but he doesn't care, hopes his tears could reach the human who he knew was on the other side of that door.

Donghae waits and waits and calls Jongwoon's name again and again until his voice turns hoarse and his tail starts drying up. A couple of minutes more and he's trying to catch his breath.

"Jongwoon," Donghae says, his vision starting to blur, and Donghae thinks he really must be dumb if he thought crawling out of the tub was a good idea. He gasps for breath and then he is falling against the door in a dead faint, Jongwoon's name frozen on his lips.


	25. Jongwoon's Struggle

Jongwoon hears a thud coming from the bathroom. He had come home a couple of minutes ago and was currently sitting on his couch for the first time in almost a month, thinking of how to apologize to Donghae. He'd bought him tuna sashimi from the Japanese restaurant Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, and he had go to and thankfully was too drunk to even think of the price or how he would have to survive on instant ramen again until the next payday. But then he needed to actually say something and "I'm sorry for being an ass. I'm just scared of inter-species relationships, okay?" wasn't going to cut it. Another thud and he becomes worried, rushes towards the bathroom door. When he gets there, he tries to push the door open but then there's something in its way. He switches on the lights and sees Donghae passed out across the door's path.

"Donghae!" Jongwoon exclaims, suddenly sober, and gathers the merman into his arms. He's awfully dry and Jongwoon panics, remembering that time Donghae had accidentally drained the tub. Jongwoon barely allows himself time to think before he is standing up with the merman in his arms and carrying him the short distance to the tub. When they get there, Jongwoon doesn't think twice and steps into the tub fully clothed. He then  sits down on one end and pulls the merman against him. He starts frantically scooping up water with his hands and wetting the merman's hair and face.

Donghae feels water trickling along his face and struggles to open his eyes. He sees Jongwoon and fresh tears start falling downs his cheeks. "Jong… woon… You… came… back… I thought… you… hated… me…"

Jongwoon's heart hurts at Donghae's words but he continues to focus on his task, running gentle fingers across the merman's face.

"Jong… woon…"

Jongwoon sighs, cups Donghae's face in his hands. "Shh, Donghae. I got you. Everything will be okay. Just… let's get you hydrated first, okay?" The merman nods, half lidded eyes looking at Jongwoon with such sorrow that the human has to look away.

"I'm going to submerge you now, okay?" Jongwoon says, just for the sake of breaking the weird tension that was developing. He gently lowers the merman’s upper body into the tub, a hand cradling his head. He holds the merman underwater until his breathing becomes steadier, ignoring his arms protesting at the exertion. He then leans back, pulling the merman back against his chest and making him rest his head against his shoulder. They sit in silence for a while, listening to each other breathe, each waiting for the other to say something first. It gets too much for Jongwoon though and he bites the bullet.

"I don't hate you."

Jongwoon feels Donghae freeze against him. "You don't?"

Jongwoon laughs self-deprecatingly. "Yeah. I feel… many things about you, dumb fish, but I realized today that I could never hate you." A pause. "And I'm sorry for overreacting. I… could have handled that better."

Donghae looks up at him, grabs a hold of the shirt covering the human's chest. "No, Jongwoon. It's me… I should be saying sorry. I know you don't want to…"

"Who says I don't, though?"

"W-what?"

And Jongwoon wonders if the earlier scare finally made him lose his mind when he finds himself lifting a hand to the back of the merman's neck and moving in for a kiss. The merman seems to understand what is happening and closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the human's strong heartbeat beneath his fingertips, thinking that maybe all those bedtime stories were wrong; maybe some of his kind did get some sort of happy ending.

Their lips are barely a millimeter apart when suddenly, the door to the bathroom is being flung open and someone steps inside.

"Hyung, where are you? Your door was open and— what the hell is going on?"

Jongwoon freezes, meets his brother's eyes from across the room, and wonders how many people he'd killed in his past life to deserve this.

 


	26. That’s some pretty convincing cosplay you’ve got there, hyung

“So… mermaid cosplay?”

Jongwoon blushes to the tips of his ears as he sits dripping wet at the edge the tub, Donghae looking from him to Jongjin curiously. He’d had to come up with a believable explanation after Jongjin practically walked in on a potential make out session and that was the best his single braincell could produce under pressure. But of course, of course Donghae couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Jongwoon, what is cosplay?”

The brothers look at the merman, one in horror, the other in curiosity.

“So it’s not?”

“It is!” Jongwoon almost shouts, hoping that his panic doesn’t give it away. “Donghae is just really good at staying in character.” He laughs nervously, hoping Donghae doesn’t say anything more.

“Donghae?” Jongjin asks.

“Me. I’m Donghae. Not the sea. Nice to meet you, Jongwoon’s brother.” The merman says, smiling at the other. It didn’t make sense to him. What was Jongwoon so embarrassed about? Wasn’t kissing something humans normally did? And he really had to ask Jongwoon what the word ‘cosplay’ meant? It seemed important.

“Hello, Donghae-hyung. You are a hyung, right? My name is Jongjin. It’s nice to finally meet you. Though I must say it’s quite odd that you seem to like hanging around hyung’s bathroom a lot.”

“I’m 33 summers old,” Donghae says proudly and Jongwoon releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Come to think of it, he’d never even thought of asking the merman how old he was, didn’t know how mermen aged at all.

“Oh, then Donghae-hyung it is.” A pause. “Your tail costume is really pretty by the way. Can I touch?”

“NO!”

Jongwoon and Donghae shout at the same time, the merman clutching his tail to his chest possessively.

“I’m sorry, Jongjin-ah, but only Jongwoon can touch Donghae’s tail.”

Jongwoon is oddly touched by this for some reason.

Jongjin looks at them suspiciously. “Okaaaay. I’m sorry for asking then. It’s just that it seems awfully realistic.”

Jongwoon freezes.

“Ah, but never mind. I brought some take out. Help me heat them up, hyung, while we let Donghae-hyung uhm… get more presentable?”

Jongwoon sighs and nods. Donghae raises a hand to cling to his shirt and Jongwoon looks at him, gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile, and squeezes his hand, before following Jongjin out of the bathroom.

Jongwoon barely closes the door to the bathroom before Jongjin says, “It isn’t cosplay, is it?”

“What?”

“I’m an idol, hyung. I’m supposed to know about these things and Donghae-hyung’s tail — it doesn’t have any seams.”

Silence.

“Hyung, what is really going on?”

Jongwoon sighs, wondering when his brother had gotten this smart.

“Fine,” he finally says. “It’s real.”

“What?”

Jongwoon looks up to see Jongjin’s bewildered expression, willing him to believe him.

“It’s real. Donghae is a merman. He saved my life. Now he— Jongjin-ah! Jongjin-ah!”

And Jongwoon scrambles to catch the other as Jongjin falls back in a dead faint.


	27. Acceptance

“Jongjin-ah! Jongjin-ah!”

Jongjin wakes to someone shaking him, opens his eyes to see his hyung’s panicked expression. Something glints against Jongwoon’s chest and he suddenly remembers why he was lying there.

“Hyung, was it just my imagination or did you just tell me Donghae-hyung is actually a…”

Jongwoon sighs. “It wasn’t your imagination.”

“So you really are dating a fish?”

“Half-fish,” Jongwoon replies automatically. “And technically, we’re not dating.”

“Aish, hyung. Don’t lie. You were just about to kiss when I interrupted you.”

Jongwoon blushes. “Can’t you forget about that for a moment?”

“I’d bleach my eyes if I could but it really is up there in the top ten things I never expected to see you do in my life, next to you having a dance off with Youngwoon-hyung back in high school.”

Jongwoon remains silent.

“And hell, what were you even planning to do with…”Jongjin shudders. “You know what, don’t answer that. I don't want to know.”

Jongwoon blushes harder. “Jongjin-ah… It’s not like that.”

“Then how is it?”

“I don’t know! I… Everything has been super weird since his scale fell off.”

“His what?”

“His scale. It fell off when I was bathing him. He says that means we’re supposed to be some sort of soulmates or whatever.”

Jongjin makes a gagging sound. “Urgh, hyung. Please spare me any more mental images. I’m already scarred as it is.”

“Sorry, but that was how it actually went.”

The brothers sit in silence then.

“So, he saved your life?”

Jongwoon stiffens. “Yes. But it’s nothing to worry yourself over, Jongjin-ah.”

Jongjin frowns. “Aish, hyung. How can I not worry when you rarely tell me things anymore — like you possibly almost dying and being practically engaged to a merman.”

“I’m sorry.”

Silence.

Jongjin sighs. “I just wish you talked to me more about things, hyung, just like when we were younger.” A pause. “You go get changed. I‘ll go keep Donghae-hyung company.”

—

Donghae looks up when the bathroom door opens to find Jongjin entering with a tray of food.

“Donghae-hyung? Sorry, I sent hyung to change into dry clothes.”

“Oh,” Donghae says. “That’s okay.”

Jongjin comes closer, places the tray of food on the low table, and sits down. Donghae looks at him expectantly.

“So, you and hyung, huh?”

Donghae tilts his head to the side, confused. “What do you mean, Jongjin-ah?”

“Are you together?”

“Yes,” Donghae answers almost instantly. “I’ve been living in this tub for more than one moon.”

Jongjin sighs. That really wasn’t what he was going for. “Uhm, what I mean is… How do you feel about him?”

“I love him,” another instant reply. “He is my destined mate.”

“But how does that work? He’s human and you’re…”

Jongwoon enters at that exact moment. He walks over, hands Donghae a smoothie, and sits at his usual place.

“Hey, guys. Sorry, I took so long. I forgot to do the laundry. So, what were you guys talking about?”

“Nothing, hyung,” Jongjin begins. “Donghae-hyung was just telling me that…”

“I love you, Jongwoon,” Donghae continues, making Jongwoon choke on the water he was drinking.

Donghae reaches out to pat him on the back. "Jongwoon, are you okay?"

"Donghae," Jongwoon coughs. "You don't go around telling people that?"

Donghae pouts, confused. "Why not? It's true." A pause. "And weren't you going to kiss me when Jongjin-ah… mmph."

Jongwoon panics and shoves a piece of spicy squid into the merman's mouth. Donghae is surprised but chews obediently when Jongwoon tells him to in a hushed voice and promises that they'll talk about it later.

"And my kiss?" Donghae says once he had swallowed the mouthful.

Jongwoon blushes and feeds him more squid.

Jongjin watches all this silently. If he were to be honest, those two were kind of cute in a stupid couple kind of way. It would get a bit of getting used to, though. Besides, he should just trust that his brother knows what he's doing.

Donghae says something then that Jongjin doesn't catch and Jongwoon laughs. It's the first time Jongjin has seen his brother look so carefree in a while and Jongjin thinks that yes, maybe having a half-fish as a future brother-in-law might not be as bad as he originally thought.


	28. More Talking Seafood

Jongwoon shows up for his shift at the grocery the next day almost dead on his feet. Jongjin had to stay over for the night after all his calls to Jungsoo went to voice mail. That was out of the ordinary for the usually diligent manager and Jongjin was prepared to call the police when Jongwoon had received a message from Heechul asking him to tell Jongjin that Jungsoo would not be available until the following morning. Jongwoon considered asking Heechul what he meant by that, if only so he could reassure Jongjin that his manager was okay, but decided that he already had too much on his plate to get involved with whatever what was going on between those two. So he had told Jongjin to just stay over until his manager could pick him up and the brothers ended up spending the entire night drinking and catching up.

Donghae, thankfully, seemed content to just watch, speaking only when spoken to. It was quite interesting for the merman to see the interaction between the brothers and, somehow, it made him miss his own hyung just a bit. So Donghae had just smiled and listened until Jongwoon's soft, lilting voice and the fingers running through his hair finally lulled him to sleep.

Jongwoon blushes at the memory as he throws on his apron. Somehow, Jongjin meeting Donghae had lifted a great weight off his chest and he would have been in a good mood today in spite of his lack of sleep if only this morning did not happen. He shudders as he remembers his shift at the café which was filled with giggling fangirls as apparently some idol group was having an event nearby. Some were brave enough to attempt to flirt with him and ask for his number, only succeeding in giving him a headache. All that and Jongwoon is ready to fall face first into the cold storage just to get some moments of rest, which he does. Kyuhyun just looks at him, unimpressed, before going back to his game. Jongwoon groans into the cold surface and wonders just how much of his pay would be docked for napping during his shift when he feels something pinch his nose rather painfully.

Jongwoon yelps, suddenly awake, drawing a curious glance from Kyuhyun. He laughs awkwardly, letting the other know that he was okay, before looking down to find what appeared to be a hermit crab staring straight at him with its beady eyes. He almost screams when it speaks with a surprisingly deep voice.

"You! Human! What have you done to our prince? I demand that you take me to him immediately."

Jongwoon blinks dumbly at the hermit crab, wondering if he was still dreaming. "Your what now?"

"Our prince! The merman whose scale hangs around your neck."

"Oh, you mean Donghae?"

The hermit crab gasps. "You insolent human! How dare you address our prince so casually?"

Jongwoon sighs, annoyed. "Look here, crabby. I really am not in the mood to do this right now and for all I know, you're just a figment of my sleep deprived imagination so just wait until the end of my shift and I'll— ow!" Jongwoon yelps again as the crab pinches his arm this time.

"Take me to our prince right now! And my name is Bada, not crabby."

Kyuhyun glances at them and Jongwoon panics, stuffs the protesting crab into the pocket of his apron. Jongwoon laughs awkwardly, waving at the younger man who just rolls his eyes.

"Later, I promise I'll bring you to Donghae," he hisses at Bada when the crab continues to struggle. "But I sure as hell am not skipping work and risking getting fired just because some talking seafood tells me to. Now shut up before I flush you down the toilet." The threat keeps Bada silent for the rest of Jongwoon's shift.

—

Jongwoon opens the door to his bathroom with a sigh, Bada carefully tucked away in a takeaway box.

"Jongwoon, welcome home," Donghae greets him, looking up from the manga he was 'reading'. "How was your day?"

Jongwoon shrugs. "It was okay. Donghae, do you—”

A rustle and Bada comes crawling out of his box. "Your majesty!" Bada exclaims.

Donghae just blinks at the crab.

"Jongwoon, is this today's dinner?"

Bada looks stricken. "Your majesty! Don't you remember who I am? I'm Bada, one of your mother's trusted aides. She sent me to find you."

"Omma?" Donghae asks. "Why would she? And why do you keep on calling me 'your majesty'? I'm Donghae."

"Because you are our prince,” Bada says patiently. “And I don't know how this human managed to take you away, your majesty, but you must come home immediately."

"Why? Is omma okay?" Donghae asks, worried. Jongwoon approaches the tub and lays a comforting hand on the merman's shoulder.

"The queen is doing quite well, your majesty, do not worry. It's just that you need come back for the ceremony on the night of the full moon."

"Ceremony?" Donghae asks, even more confused. "What ceremony?"

Bada looks from Donghae to the scale glinting against Jongwoon's chest. "The mating ceremony, your majesty." Bada says. "The one you ran away from two moons ago."


	29. Foreboding

Jongwoon frowns at what he hears, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Mating ceremony, Bada had said. And it was supposed to be held two months ago? But didn’t Donghae say… He clenches his fist, surprised at the feelings of anger and possessiveness that wash over him, overpowering any rational thought. What the hell was the crab saying? He reaches out to grab Bada by his pincers and hopefully get some answers when Donghae latches onto his arm, almost pulling him into the tub.

“No! No! No! I refuse!” The merman cries. “I don't even know who you are and my Omma will never force me to be with anyone I didn't choose." A fierce glare and Jongwoon is taken aback — he has never seen that kind of expression on the merman's face. "Jongwoon is my destined mate. I belong to him and no one else.”

Jongwoon’s heart skips a beat at the declaration as he feels the merman’s steady heartbeat against his arm. No matter how many times the merman says it, those words never seem to lose their effect.

“But, your majesty," Bada tries again. "Your betrothed is kind and handsome and someone her highness highly approves of.  Besides, isn't it time to go back? You’ve been away from the sea for so long, you’re starting to…”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Donghae interrupts, tears starting to fall down his cheeks. “I don’t care who he is! If it isn’t Jongwoon, I’d much rather die.”

“Your majesty…” Bada is almost begging. "Please listen to reason. Your mother—”

“Leave,” Jongwoon finds himself saying in a surprisingly calm voice. He reaches out his free hand to give the merman's hand a gentle squeeze. "If Donghae says he doesn't want to ma-- get married to that guy, then that's that."

Bada scoffs at him. "Oh, and what can you do about it, human? You aren't part of this. Just because you managed to take a scale off…"

"It's not just any scale. It's my special scale.” Donghae says in Jongwoon’s defense. “I gave it to him as a gift because he is mine and I am his, just like in the bedtime stories Omma used to tell me."

"But, your majesty. He is human and…"

"I said leave!" Jongwoon has had enough. "Or else I'm flushing you down the toilet for real."

Bada sighs. "Fine. I will." He then takes out what looks like a glass marble from out of nowhere and leaves it on the table. "For when your majesty changes his mind. Just bring it to the eastern shore and crush it. Then, the first prince would come to take him."

"I refuse. I won't change my mind," Donghae insists, still clinging to Jongwoon.

Bada looks at him with something close to pity in its eyes. "I hope you never have to, my prince," the crab says ominously before  crawling away.


	30. Oops ⚠️🔞

"Jongwoon, what are cherry blossoms?" Donghae asks as Jongwoon empties a packet of cherry blossom-scented shampoo onto his head. The full moon had come and gone and Donghae had shed his scales again. Jongwoon just sighed and went for his hose when he'd come into the bathroom that morning to be greeted by the familiar fishy smell. He'd successfully cleaned the tub by the time the morning news was over and was now giving Donghae his bath.

Jongwoon pauses, covering Donghae's eyes as he pours some water over the other's head. "Hmm, cherry blossoms. Well, they're flowers — pretty pink ones that bloom in spring. Didn't they show it in the news?"

Donghae shrugs. "I don't know. I wasn't watching the news, just listening. Watching you work is still more interesting."

Jongwoon's hand slips at the honest comment and some shampoo falls over the merman's eyes.

"Jongwoon! Hurts!" Donghae exclaims and Jongwoon panics, stammers an apology, and quickly takes Donghae's face in his hands to inspect the damage. He then gently washes off the suds and wipes away the remaining foam with his thumbs. When he's sure he's gotten everything, he tells Donghae that he could open his eyes now. The merman does so and Jongwoon could not help but stare as golden, if red -rimmed, eyes look back up at him. As in in a trance, he moves his hand to caress Donghae's cheek and the other leans into the touch, eyes still looking straight into Jongwoon’s own.

"Donghae, you…" Jongwoon begins but stops himself. 'You're beautiful,' he wants to say. 'Stay with me,' he wants to ask.

"I love you," Donghae says as normal as breathing and Jongwoon's own breath catches in his throat. "Will you kiss me now, Jongwoon?"

Jongwoon knows he should no longer be surprised. After all, Donghae seemed to have gotten braver since the day of Bada's visit.

When asked about what the crab had revealed, Donghae admitted that he sometimes did forget stuff, something about a regressive gene of a gold fish ancestor. "Oh, but don't worry Jongwoon. I don't think I'll ever forget you," he had said before latching onto Jongwoon and giving him a tight hug, almost breaking the human's ribs.

Jongwoon sighs as he comes back to the present, pulls his hands away and leans back. Donghae looks at him with a strange expression so he takes both the merman's hands in his and places them on the merman's lap.

"Donghae, I… Let's go out."

"Go out?" Donghae asks. "Where are we going, Jongwoon?"

Jongwoon sighs. “Not like that… I mean… Like on a date."

"A date?" Donghae asks, blushing attractively. "Like in shoujo manga?"

"Uhm, sure," Jongwoon says awkwardly. "We could go see the cherry blossoms, if you want. I know a park which has a lake and it may take some planning but I’m sure I can come up with something even if I have to ask Heechul-hyu—”

"Okay, Jongwoon," Donghae interrupts him, smiling. “ I will go out on a date with you."

Jongwoon finds himself smiling back, rubs his thumbs against the knuckles of Donghae's hands. "Great. That's great. I should start— woah!"

Donghae moves his tail at the exact time Jongwoon tries to get up and suddenly, Jongwoon loses his balance, making him fall onto the merman. Luckily, he is able to brace one hand against the floor so he doesn't crush him. His other hand though…

Donghae squeaks and Jongwoon pales, a feeling of déjà vu washing over him.

"Jongwoon," Donghae whispers, suddenly breathless. "Please move your hand."

Jongwoon swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. He looks at the flushed face of the merman who suddenly lets out an unmistakable moan.

"Jongwoon, please," Donghae pants. "I’m starting to feel strange… You’re not supposed to…”

Jongwoon blinks dumbly.

"Jongwoon…" Donghae says again. “My hole…”

It finally sinks in and Jongwoon flings himself away  from the merman, his whole body flushing.

‘His hole,’ Jongwoon thinks, suddenly having a mental break down. ‘What the fuck, Jongwoon, you just touched his—”

“Jongwoon,” Donghae calls his name again and Jongwoon’s brain short-circuits, making him fall face first into the thankfully filled tub, wondering about the chances of him drowning and/or dying of embarrassment as he blanks out.


	31. Seaweed Soup

It takes Jongwoon three full days after his accidental “discovery” before he could look Donghae in the eye — or the tail, for that matter. Donghae, for his part, seemed to be oblivious to everything except for the promise of a date.

“So, when are we going to go see the cherry blossoms, Jongwoon?” Donghae asks for the hundredth time as they sit down for dinner.

Jongwoon doesn't answer, just smiles as he places some seaweed soup and rice on the table. He’d received a box of food stuff from his mother that day and had felt nostalgic enough to cook.

Jongwoon takes a spoonful of the soup, blows on it to cool it a bit before offering it to Donghae. The merman sniffs at the soup curiously before trying it. His eyes light up.

“Jongwoon, this is good,” he says excitedly, already having forgotten the question he'd asked.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s the only real dish I’ve learned how to make.” Jongwoon smiles wistfully. "My mom taught me how to make it before I moved to the city."

"Really? Your mother sounds nice, Jongwoon. I hope I get to meet her."

Jongwoon blushes when he realizes that he wanted that as well. He'd never really  introduced anyone he's ever dated to his mother, for some reason. To actually want to introduce Donghae to her in spite of the obvious… complications had to mean something. He coughs.

"How about your mother, Donghae?" He asks, trying to change the subject. "I'm sure she must be very beautiful."

"I… don't really know if omma is as beautiful as you think but it's very kind of you to say that." Donghae gives him a sad smile.  "You see, I'm not very good at remembering faces. My head hurts if I force myself to remember so I've given up trying." A pause. "But if there's one thing I remember about her, it’s her hugs. Omma’s hugs are so very warm."

"Donghae…" Jongwoon is not sure how to respond to that, wants to wrap his arms around the merman in comfort. He could not imagine ever forgetting his mother's face.

“Come to think of it," the merman continues. "Yours is the first and only face I could remember, Jongwoon. From the first time I saw you, I could never forget.”

"The first time?"

"Yes," Donghae smiles happily at him. "So I was so happy when  you turned out to be my destined mate. Imagine forgetting your mate’s face. Wouldn’t that be the saddest thing?”

The look in the merman's eyes is so honest, Jongwoon feels his heart skip a beat, wants to lean forward and—

"Sunday,” Jongwoon says suddenly to dispel the thoughts that have already become too familiar in his head. "We're going to see the cherry blossoms on Sunday."

The merman blinks at him. "And my kiss?"

Jongwoon blushes and turns away. "Stupid fish! You really have a one-tracked mind."

"I love you, Jongwoon," Donghae says, latching onto the human’s free arm. "Even if you do make me feel strange and confused sometimes, I still love you.”

Jongwoon doesn't know how to respond to that.


	32. Last cherry blossoms of the year 🌸

Jongwoon wakes up extremely early on Sunday morning to get things ready and to pack them into the van he had borrowed from Jongjin. He also prepares the wheelchair he'd managed to get from a clearance sale, thankful that he wouldn’t have to carry the merman around all day. He'd used up his last braincell and a good chunk of his pay check setting things up for their date today, from figuring out how to keep Donghae's tail wet during the trip to the park (trash bags filled with water) to how to keep said tail hidden while they were in the park (blankets, lots of them).

There was just the matter of getting Donghae to wear a top.

Said merman was up early as well. Jongwoon doubts he'd even slept at all. He helps Donghae wash his hair but leaves him to clean the rest of his body, the memory of the last time he'd tried to give Donghae a full bath still fresh in his mind.

Jongwoon comes back with one of his oversized hoodies, a white fluffy one he’d gotten from Jongjin as a gift. Donghae looks at it curiously, the concept of wearing clothes still foreign to him.

"But Jongwoon, why can't I just go out like this?" the merman asks innocently.

"It's too cold outside," Jongwoon says, somewhat annoyed at the thought.

"But I've survived worse winters. Merfolk skin is tough, see?"

Jongwoon glares. "Look, you just can't okay. It's bad enough that you have a face that people would notice. If you go around shirtless… Anyway, here." He pulls the hoodie over Donghae's head, effectively silencing him. He then arranges the hood and uses his fingers to comb through Donghae's hair. Once he's done, he picks up Donghae bridal style, carefully avoiding that particular area on the front of the merman’s tail that Jongwoon would rather forget exists. Donghae clings to him as he strains every muscle to carry the merman to the waiting wheelchair. He then secures a trash bag around the Donghae's tail and fills it with water. A blanket completes the entire set up and Jongwoon looks down at Donghae, satisfied with his work. The merman looks happily back up at him, radiant even in the dim light of Jongwoon's living room, and Jongwoon wonders if it would spoil the entire purpose of going on this date if he were to lean down and kiss him then.

"Jongwoon, what is it?" Donghae asks curiously.

Jongwoon shakes his head. "Nothing, Hae. Shall we go then?"

Donghae nods and Jongwoon starts to push the wheelchair out of his apartment.

—

They encounter a slight problem when Jongwoon has to carry Donghae down the stairs and they meet Mrs. Choi from Unit 201.

"Good morning, Jongwoon-ssi," she greets. "You’re up quite early for a Sunday.” A pause. “Is your girlfriend okay?" she asks, trying to get a good look at Donghae’s face.

Donghae hides his head in the crook of Jongwoon's neck, startled at having another human talk to him.

Jongwoon blushes. "Good morning, Choi-ssi. Uhm, don’t worry. H-she’s recovering from an accident. She’s been cooped up in the apartment for quite a bit and I just wanted to take her out to see the cherry blossoms before they're gone for the year."

Mrs. Choi positively coos at them. "My, if that isn't the sweetest thing. I hope you enjoy your date then, dear."

Jongwoon does his best to bow politely without dropping Donghae. When she'd gone a good number of steps away from them, Donghae lifts his head and asks, "Girlfriend?"

Jongwoon blushes again. "Ah, it's easier just to go with whatever people assume most of the time. The less questions asked, the better."

"Oh? I don't think I look much like a girl though."

Jongwoon sighs. "I'm just glad you actually passed for a human and not a fish. Now hang on tighter. I think my arms are about to give out."

Donghae does as he's told and they make their way the final flight of steps to the parking lot and the waiting van.

—

Jongwoon is physically exhausted by the time they are finally seated in the van. If he'd known he'd have to be carrying around more than 100 pounds of merman, he probably would have worked out more when he had the chance. He can barely feel his arms as he takes the driver's seat.

Donghae looks around the van curiously from the back seat. "Jongwoon, where are we?"

Jongwoon turns around. "We're in a car, Hae. It's something we humans ride to get around without walking."

"Oh, like whale sharks?"

Jongwoon blinks. "I suppose."

"Interesting."

They are barely five minutes into their drive when Jongwoon hears some rustling from the back. He looks at the rear view mirror and almost swerves off the street.

"Donghae!" He exclaims. "What the hell! Put your hoodie back on!"

The merman pouts at him. "But Jongwoon, it feels funny wearing that thing."

"I don't care," Jongwoon says in a panicked tone. "Humans don't go around without a shirt, especially in this weather."

"But the news was covering an idol concert and almost all of them didn’t wear anything on top. What is an idol, Jongwoon?"

Jongwoon cries internally and prays for patience.

—

They finally make it to the park and, after practically forcing Donghae back into the hoodie, Jongwoon lifts him onto the wheelchair. He loads a couple of more blankets and his backpack in the space underneath  and steers the wheelchair towards the more quiet part of the park's man-made lake. Donghae looks around excitedly when they start passing through a lane lined with cherry trees on either side and Jongwoon realizes that this is the first time in months that the merman has been anywhere outside the four walls of his bathroom. That thought saddens him and he wonders why Donghae put up with that, had never asked to be returned to the river or the sea where he could roam freely as he was meant to. Jongwoon sighs, resolves to take Donghae out more often, shakes his head in disbelief when he realizes that he was seriously considering a future with the merman.

Cherry blossoms fall as they go past and some petals settle on the merman's hair. Jongwoon finds himself smiling as the merman looks around in wonder. He stops the wheelchair amidst a shower of pink petals, walks around to face Donghae. Donghae looks up at him and Jongwoon feels the wind get knocked out of him. Because in the warmth of the sun with his white oversized hoodie and pink petals in his hair, Donghae was the most beautiful person Jongwoon has ever seen. As if in a trance, he reaches down to brush some of the petals off the merman's hair, finds his hand cupping Donghae's cheek. A beat and Jongwoon is leaning down and then…

"Jongwoon-hyung?"

Jongwoon freezes. He looks up to find Ryeowook looking at them curiously, a smirking Kyuhyun not far behind him. 


	33. Double Date?

“Ryeowook-ssi! Kyuhyun-ah!” Jongwoon exclaims, practically flying away from the merman.

Donghae stares intently at the newcomers as they come into view. The shorter one was looking at him curiously while the taller one... Donghae frowns. Both appear human but there is something about the taller one that feels familiar to the merman.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ryeowook says uncertainly. “Are you out on a date?”

“D-date?” Jongwoon stammers.

“We are,” Donghae says honestly. “Jongwoon is taking me to watch the cherry blossoms near the lake.”

“Oh, I see. Uhm, hello,” Ryeowook says, looking at the merman. “I’m Kim Ryeowook and this is Cho Kyuhyun. We work with Jongwoon-hyung. We’re sorry for bothering you, uhm…”

“My name is Donghae,” Donghae says.

“Just Donghae?” The taller one, Kyuhyun, asks. “Don’t you have a surname?”

“Surname?” Donghae asks, looks at Jongwoon thoughtfully. “Kim, then?”

“W-what?” Jongwoon chokes.

“I’m Kim Donghae,” Donghae says, looking satisfied with himself. “Nice to meet you, Ryeowook-ssi, Kyuhyun-ah.”

—

Jongwoon eyes Ryeowook and Kyuhyun warily as he carefully bends down to lift Donghae out of the wheelchair and onto the blanket he’d spread out. The two of them somehow managed to invite themselves into Jongwoon and Donghae’s corner of the lakeside, spreading out a blanket of their own.

Ryeowook has started taking out containers of food from his backpack while Kyuhyun watches him with a strange expression. Jongwoon has always wondered what exactly was going on between those two as there always seemed to be some sort of tension when they were together.

As if reading his mind, Donghae asks. “Are you also on a date with Kyuhyun-ah, Ryeowook-ssi?”

Ryeowook blinks. “Ah, no. We’re here as friends, right Kyukyu?”

Kyuhyun just shrugs. “If you say so, Ryeongu.”

Jongwoon settles on the blanket next to Donghae and starts to take out the food he’d packed — some rice, a thermos of seaweed soup, some spicy squid and orange chicken from the Chinese restaurant two blocks away from his apartment, and a smoothie. Jongwoon wishes he could have bought more picnic-appropriate food but then the chocolate-covered strawberries he was planning to surprise Donghae with later cost quite a bit.

Jongwoon hands the thermos to Donghae and proceeds to feed him as he’d always done.

Ryeowook coughs and it is only then that Jongwoon realizes how strange it must look, him feeding the other with his own pair of chopsticks.

“Do you guys want some soju, hyung?” Ryeowook asks, blushing a bit. “I brought more than we could drink.”

“Ah, no thanks. We’re—”

“Soju? What is soju, Jongwoon?” Donghae interrupts

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Kyuhyun says with an evil smile. “It will be the best thing you’ll ever taste, Donghae-hyung.”

“Really? Jongwoon, I want to try soju.”

Jongwoon glares at Kyuhyun. “No. No, you don’t, Donghae,” he says, feeding the merman more rice and squid. “Soju is bad for you, understand?”

Donghae munches happily on the squid and nods.

Kyuhyun laughs. “Aww, aren’t you two sickeningly cute?”

Ryeowook elbows him and he yelps. The café owner smiles apologetically at Jongwoon. “Oh, don’t mind Kyukyu’s teasing, hyung. He just wishes someone would do that for him.”

Kyuhyun protests and Jongwoon finds himself laughing. He feels Donghae lean against him, surprisingly warm in spite of the cool spring air, and thinks maybe today will still turn out to be a good day after all.


	34. Long Overdue

Jongwoon struggles as he carries a giggling Donghae up the stairs to their  apartment. They'd somehow spent the entire day at the park just hanging out with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook. Jongwoon’s co-workers seemed to have taken a liking to the merman and had kept on asking him questions about himself and how ‘someone like him’ ended up on a date with someone like Jongwoon. Jongwoon had just sighed, ignoring all the digs at him. To be honest, he was just thankful that they’d manage to hide Donghae’s tail all throughout the day. There were a few near-misses though, one of them ending with Jongwoon having to wrap an arm around Donghae’s waist to keep the merman from moving around too much. Kyuhyun had given him a knowing look then though Jongwoon has yet to figure out what exactly the other knew. After all, it couldn’t be the fact that Donghae was a merman, right?

“Jongwoon,” Donghae giggles, fingers playing with the baby hairs at the back of the human’s neck. The sound was pleasant, almost like a melody, and Jongwoon finds himself wanting to hear it more often.

“Yes, Hae?” Jongwoon asks patiently, concentrating on getting up the stairs one step at a time.

“Did I ever tell you you have pretty eyes? They look like they have fireflies in them. Fireflies are pretty in the summer, did you know, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon sighs, curses Kyuhyun who’d somehow successfully sneaked a glass of soju to Donghae when he was not looking. Of course, Jongwoon had  also drunk a glass of soju or two at that point and a happy Donghae was not that unusual but when the merman started giggling and trying to crawl onto his lap, Jongwoon knew something was off. So he’d glared at Kyuhyun, apologized to Ryeowook, packed up their things, and quickly left before Donghae could say or do anything more incriminating.

Kyuhyun had commented on what a protective boyfriend he was being but Jongwoon was too worried about Donghae being exposed that he chose not to correct the other.

They finally reach their floor and Jongwoon quickly walks to his apartment, opens the door and, without bothering to turn any of the lights on, stumbles his way into the bathroom. He carefully sets Donghae down on the side of the tub and kneels in front of the merman. He puts the blankets aside and begins taking off the trash bag tied around his tail.

Donghae leans against the bathroom wall, half-lidded golden eyes glinting as he watches Jongwoon work. He’d enjoyed the day out with Jongwoon’s friends Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, though there were times when the latter had said things that confused the merman. And the soju… Donghae wrinkles his nose. Kyuhyun was wrong. It tasted awful and burnt his throat and made him feel lightheaded, like the first time he’d breathed in the air above the sea. Meanwhile, all three humans, even Jongwoon, seemed to enjoy drinking it. Humans really were so strange.

Donghae jumps as he feels hands on his shoulders, helping him to sit up. Jongwoon seemed to be done freeing his tail and was now seated on the side of the tub in front of him, working on the hoodie he was wearing. If Donghae were to be honest, he kind of learned to like the feel of the fluffy cloth against his skin. It didn’t help that the hoodie smelt like Jongwoon and made Donghae feel warm all throughout.

Jongwoon props the merman’s body up with his own, oblivious to the other’s thoughts, before pulling the hoodie up and over Donghae’s head. Donghae’s arms somehow end up getting stuck in the sleeves and Jongwoon has started working on freeing them when Donghae speaks.

“Jongwoon,” the merman says, hands holding onto the front of the Jongwoon’s shirt, and the human looks at him.

Jongwoon’s heart skips a beat. He doubts he’ll ever get used to seeing the other’s beauty this close.

“Yes, Hae?” he manages to say.

Donghae draws closer and Jongwoon swallows against the dryness of his throat.

‘Too close! This is dangerous!’ his mind screams at him. ‘You’re both drunk! Get out of there before you do something you’d both regret.’

“Jongwoon,” Donghae whispers and Jongwoon feels the merman’s breath ghost against his lips. “My kiss… you promised…”

And Jongwoon makes the mistake of looking the merman in the eye and he suddenly remembers all their almost-kisses until earlier that day underneath the falling cherry blossoms. If things had gone according to plan, he would have kissed Donghae at the park with the sunset reflecting off the lake in the middle of all the cherry trees in full bloom. Now, though, in the semi-darkness of his bathroom, he finds himself closing the distance between them.

Their lips meet for a brief moment before Jongwoon pulls away. He watches Donghae open his eyes, a look of wonder on his face.

“Donghae…” Jongwoon says when the silence starts to get to him.

“Again?” the merman says in reply.

“What?”

“Do it again,” Donghae demands, pulling Jongwoon back by the front of his shirt until they’re nose-to-nose once again.

“Donghae, you…”

“I want more, Jongwoon,” the merman says firmly and Jongwoon finds his eyes drawn to the merman’s lips. Donghae licks his lips and Jongwoon loses it, leans forward, wraps his arms around the merman’s waist, and captures his lips in a kiss that surprises them both in its intensity. Jongwoon’s hands then start exploring the soft skin of Donghae’s back, making the merman part his lips in a moan. Jongwoon takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into the his mouth, effectively silencing him. Donghae whimpers and clings to Jongwoon, wrapping his arms around Jongwoon’s neck, as the human begins to explore his mouth.

Jongwoon loses himself in the kiss. It feels so warm and good and right that it made ignoring all the alarms sounding in his head all too easy. Jongwoon sucks on the merman’s tongue and Donghae gasps, leans backward and pulls Jongwoon with him. Jongwoon chases after him, refusing to part even for a second. Donghae reaches a hand back to keep himself from falling but a sudden caress from Jongwoon makes him jump and he slips off the side and into the tub, pulling a surprised Jongwoon in together with him.


	35. Crossroads 🔞🔥

Donghae lies back against the tub, flushed and breathless, as Jongwoon stares down at him, equally affected, the cool water flowing around them contrasting with the warmth of Jongwoon’s body against the merman’s. They look at each other for a while, trying to commit the moment to memory, neither letting go of the other. A smile and then they're both laughing giddily, Jongwoon burying his nose against the merman's neck to try to contain his laughter. It was strangely freeing, finally being able to let go like that and Jongwoon wonders what exactly he was so afraid of in the first place. He lets out a contented sigh and Donghae's breath hitches as Jongwoon's lips accidentally graze the gills at the side of his neck.

"Jongwoon," the merman says. "Jongwoon, stop. That tickles."

Jongwoon's heart skips a beat once again. He didn't think it was possible to sound both cute and erotic at the same time but Donghae somehow managed it. He places a kiss on the merman's neck and is surprised to find folds of skin there.

'Gills,' his mind supplies. 'He's half-fish if you haven't forgotten.’ Yet Jongwoon ignores that rational part of his brain that warns him against engaging with any foreign anatomy and gives the lowermost fold a tentative lick.

Donghae moans, bucking against the human, the tip of his tail splashing water everywhere. Jongwoon smirks. It seemed he'd found a weak spot. He continues working on Donghae’s neck, alternating between licking and sucking, enjoying all the reactions he manages to draw from the merman. His hands continue their exploration down the merman's chest. It is weird how he only notices it now when the merman was half-naked ever since they met but Donghae's chest was really something. He reaches down to tweak a stiff nipple while sucking hard on his neck and Donghae practically mewls.

"Jongwoon…" Donghae says, tears welling up in his eyes. "Jongwoon, please… It's too much."

Jongwoon doesn't listen to him, drunk in the moment, continues his ministrations until Donghae freezes against him.

"Jongwoon… stop. I'm feeling strange again. My hole… Something's poking at it…"

Jongwoon freezes. He’d been so absorbed in drawing out reactions from the merman, he didn’t notice his own. He pries himself away from the merman, flushing from head to foot. Did he just almost…

"Jongwoon?" Donghae calls his name and Jongwoon looks away.

"I… I have to get the van back to Jongjin," he says, adjusting his soaking wet clothes. "Uhm, I'll be… yeah."

And with that, he practically runs from the bathroom, leaving a confused merman behind.

—

Things change after that drunken kiss turned make out session, especially on Jongwoon’s part. Donghae seemed satisfied enough with the kiss he'd received and had stopped asking for them. It didn’t stop Jongwoon from giving them, though. For some reason, he’d gotten addicted to their kisses and displays of affection.

Thankfully, the merman seemed to forget the latter part. Jongwoon still has mental breakdowns thinking of how his drunken self was all for going all the way with Donghae that night without even knowing how that would work. He flushes in spite of himself, kicks at a pebble while swinging the bag of groceries in his right hand.

"Jongwoon-hung," someone calls him, startling him from his thoughts, and he looks up.

“Ryeowook-ssi?” He asks.

“What are you doing here?” ‘Here’ being the middle of the bridge he usually passes on his way home.

“Do you have time?” the younger man says mysteriously. “I think we need to talk.”

Jongwoon frowns. What was it about that couldn't wait until the next morning?

“Uhm, sure,” he says. Surely Donghae would forgive him for being a little late to dinner.

Ryeowook nods. "Let's take a walk, shall we?" he says, walking towards the stairs that lead to the familiar river under the bridge.


	36. Too good to be true

They sit on one of the old dilapidated benches along the riverbank. Jongwoon fidgets with his bag while Ryeowook just looks out at the river with an unreadable expression. This was the first time Jongwoon had seen his boss like this.

“Ryeowook-ssi,” Jongwoon says when the silence becomes too much to bear. “What do you—”

“I know, hyung,” Ryeowook says.

“What?”

“I know what Donghae-hyung is.”

Jongwoon’s blood runs cold.

“Ryeowook-ssi, what are you—”

“He’s a merman, right?” Ryeowook says calmly, finally looking at him. “I had my suspicions that you were being Charmed the first day we met when I saw the scale around your neck. Meeting Donghae-hyung confirmed them.”

Jongwoon swallows. “Charmed?” For some reason, the word makes a feeling of dread settle at the pit of his stomach.

Ryeowook nods. “Haven’t you heard all those tales of sirens luring sailors to their doom with their voices?”

Charmed… sirens… doom… Jongwoon’s head begins to hurt.

“I’m sorry, hyung, but you’ve acting a bit strangely since that day we met at the park and I’m almost sure it’s the Charm beginning to take effect. I just had to say something before it becomes too late.”

Charmed. The word keeps repeating itself in Jongwoon’s head. He was just being charmed. So his feelings for the Donghae…

“Wait, Ryeowook-ssi. How do you even know all this?”

Ryeowook sighs and reaches into his pocket. He takes out a small jewelry box and opens it. Inside lay a scale similar to the one around Jongwoon’s neck except that it was a pale blue color.

Jongwoon’s eyes widen.

“Ryeowook-ssi, you—”

“I was also Charmed once. The merman whose scale this belongs to tried to take me away when I was fifteen. At least that’s what my mother says.” A shrug. “I really don’t remember much from that time except the feeling of drowning. I still have nightmares about it.”

“Ryeowook-ssi…”

Ryeowook shakes his head. “I’m not telling you this for you to feel sorry for me, hyung. I just… I know Donghae-hyung is a nice person and if your feelings are indeed your own then I am genuinely happy for you but hyung… Please do be careful. He may appear sincere and harmless but he is still a mythical being and…”

“Enough,” Jongwoon says, voice eerily calm.

“But hyung, I’m just…”

“I said enough!” Jongwoon stands, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. “Donghae is… Donghae is my destined mate. He won’t… He can’t…” Jongwoon takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “I have to go.”

And with that, he breaks into a run, feeling a sudden need to see the merman and have him reassure him that everything Ryeowook said wasn’t true. He hears Ryeowook call his name but he doesn’t look back.


	37. Doubt

Ryeowook looks after Jongwoon’s retreating back, suddenly second guessing his decision. He honestly didn’t think he’d receive that strong of a reaction from Jongwoon. It almost seemed as if… But that couldn’t be, right? Was the Charm so powerful that it could actually make someone believe they are in love? Was it the same for him back then?

He opens the jewelry box and looks at the scale inside it. It was very pretty. Even after all these years, it didn’t seem to lose it shine and somehow, his conversation with Jongwoon makes Ryeowook wish that he actually remembers.

“Ryeonggu?”

Ryeowook hurriedly closes the jewelry box and turns around.

“Kyukyu! What are you doing here?” Ryeowook says, hoping that the panic wasn’t evident in his voice.

Kyuhyun shrugs. “I was just passing by on the way to pick up something for the grocery when I saw you and Jongwoon-hyung talking.”

Ryeowook freezes. “How much did you hear?”

Kyuhyun shrugs. “Enough. So you kept that scale huh?”

“Yes. It seemed important that I do.”

“Even if it belonged to the merman who supposedly tried to take you away?”

Ryeowook sighs. “So you heard that too, huh? Look, I know it sounds crazy but…”

“It’s not,” Kyuhyun shakes his head, takes a seat on the bench and pat the space beside him. Ryeowook smiles and accepts the invitation. Kyuhyun produces two juice boxes out of nowhere and hands one to Ryeowook who accepts it thankfully.

“I… grew up near a coastal town and I’ve heard those warnings against our… against merfolk. They’re just that, though — rumors conjured up by mourning wives whose husbands or sons or daughters have left them after falling in love with one of the merfolk.”

“So that thing about being Charmed..?”

Kyuhyun frowns, “I admit that it is not unheard of but it’s actually a forbidden form of magic that not all merfolk can do.”

Ryeowook turns to him fully. “Oh? So that means I could actually have…”

“No!” Kyuhyun says forcefully, taking a hold of Ryeowook’s shoulders, surprising Ryeowook at the seriousness of his tone. “What happened definitely wasn’t because of a charm. Please believe me. Ryeonggu, I…”

Several horns sound and the two of them look up to see traffic building up on the bridge where Kyuhyun left their grocery’s van.

“Damn it, I have to go!” Kyuhyun says, already making a run for it.

Ryeowook watches as Kyuhyun disappears up the stairs, heart still pounding hard against his chest. For a moment there, he thought the younger man was going to… He shakes his head, cheeks burning. What business did he have, thinking that of his long-time friend? Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember when exactly he met Kyuhyun either. He just seemed to be always… there.

Strange.

He looks out onto the river and sips on his juice box. Today gave him a lot of things to think about.


	38. Hurt on Hurt

Jongwoon hesitates in front of his bathroom door. He had run all the way home from the river, Ryeowook’s words running through his head making him doubt everything, feelings of betrayal and anger and disappointment making his heart hurt.

Why would Donghae do that, though? The still rational part of his brain asks. What would he gain if he Charmed Jongwoon? And why was Jongwoon so angry? Donghae had done nothing to harm him unlike the merman did with Ryeowook.

But he lied, the emotional part of Jongwoon answers. He lied and manipulated you and it hurts so much because you really thought you had this one shot at happiness with him only to find out that that happiness is based on a lie. It hurts because maybe a part of him has started to fall in love with someone again after more or less swearing off love for the rest of his life only to find out that those feelings may not be his own.

With those thoughts, he throws the bathroom door open, startling Donghae who had been fiddling with a pencil and a sheet of paper.

“Oh, Jongwoon. You’re back! Welcome home!” Donghae smiles at him as he has always done, looking expectantly at him. Were it any other day, Jongwoon would have responded with an “I’m home” and gone to kiss the merman. Knowing what he did now though, instead of being comforted as he usually would, Jongwoon sees red.

“Stop it,” Jongwoon growls.

Donghae frowns, confused. An angry Jongwoon was already a rare sight but having said anger directed towards him makes the merman pause.

“Stop what, Jongwoon?” he asks carefully.

“That! This! Everything! I know, okay? I know!” Jongwoon rakes a hand through his hair. “Did you really think— God, I’m so fucking stupid!”

“Jongwoon?” Donghae calls his name again, worry creeping into his tone.

“How do you do it?” Jongwoon asks.

“Do what?”

“How does the Charm work?”

“Charm?”

Jongwoon laughs bitterly. “Yes, the charm you used on me.”

“What charm? I didn’t use any charm on you.”

“Bullshit! You used one on me. It all makes perfect sense now. It’s not like me to catch feelings that strong and fast and now I know why.”

“Jongwoon…”

“Did you have fun, Hae? Watching this dumb human grow crazier for you as time passes? Did you have fun making me do things for you believing I was actually doing them because I l—”

“I didn’t! Jongwoon, please! I don’t understand what’s happening! I didn’t use a charm on you. I don’t know how to do it and even if I did, I wouldn’t. You know your feelings are the most precious to me, right, Jongwoon? So I could never…”

“Stop lying!” Jongwoon shouts and Donghae freezes. “Stop lying! I know, okay! What I really want to know though is why? Why did you do it? Why me? What do you really want, Hae?"

"You!” the merman cries, tears streaking down his face. “All I've ever wanted all along is you, Jongwoon. From the time I got lost and ended up in that dirty river, the only thing that kept me hanging on was the thought of seeing you. I would wait for you every day when the sun rose and set because yours was the first face I could remember. What would you have me do to make you believe me?”

"I don't know what to believe anymore!" Jongwoon says and is surprised to find that he had begun to cry as well.

They fall silent after that, the only sounds being that of Jongwoon’s heavy breathing and Donghae’s sobbing.

"If I give up my tail for you, would you believe me?"

“What?”

“My tail? If I… give it up to be with you, would you believe me?”

Jongwoon laughs mockingly at him. “Give up your tail to be with me? You really are dumb, aren’t you? Why would I want to be with you when I know now that my feelings for you are not my own huh?”

Donghae gasps as though physically slapped, clutching at his chest as the pain becomes too excruciating to bear. He recognizes the symptoms, breath coming in short pants.

“Jongwoon…” the merman says, reaching for the human.  “Jongwoon, please… It hurts.”

Jongwoon just watches him coldly. A part of him wants to go to the merman and hold him, forget everything and just try to enjoy this approximation of happiness but the seed of doubt had been planted and Jongwoon doesn’t think he could ever be truly happy knowing that it was not real.

Donghae struggles against the pain to reach Jongwoon, pulls himself up and onto the side of the tub, ignoring the pain in his chest that was the beginning of Heartsickness.

“Jongwoon, please…” He tries again. “I love you.”

“You love me?” Jongwoon laughs incredulously as he approaches. “Come on.”

“What?”

“I’m bringing you back to the river.”

“What? Jongwoon please! Don’t throw me out!” Donghae cries, wrapping his arms around Jongwoon’s waist, pleading with him with his eyes. “I swear, I didn’t do it! I promise, I’ll be good! I’ll do anything, won’t ask anything of you just please let me stay! Jongwoon! Please! I might really die if I don’t see you! Jongwoon!” Donghae sobs and Jongwoon feels his heart falter. He clenches his fist.

“I don’t love you.”

“What? Jongwoon! Please!”

“I don’t love you, Hae,” Jongwoon says and Donghae feels his heart literally stop.

_Merfolk can die of heartbreak,_ he remembers his mother saying again. _Be careful who you give your heart to, my Hae-ah._

And Donghae falls, Jongwoon’s cold eyes staring at him the last thing he sees before he blacks out.


	39. Regret

Humans are such strange creatures. When hurt and sad and betrayed, their natural tendency is to lash out causing even more hurt and sadness and pain without thinking things through only to immediately regret it when the veil of anger is lifted and they are left to deal with the mess they had caused.

Jongwoon watches Donghae fall as though in slow motion, his own words sounding cruel and false even in his head.

_I don’t love you, Hae._ He had said in a moment of blind rage and confusion.

Stupid! Jongwoon scolds himself. Why the hell did he say that? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

He rushes forward, manages to catch Donghae before he falls to the ground, holding the unconscious merman against him. He’s seen this happen before, was actually the cause of the same but this time… He checks Donghae’s wrist for a pulse and panics when he feels none. With trembling arms, he lifts Donghae and gets into the tub with him like the last time this had happened. Heart pounding in his chest, he lowers himself and the merman into the water, carefully supporting his head.

“Donghae?” Jongwoon says when nothing happens for a moment. “Donghae, look I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it, okay. Please wake up.”

And Jongwoon cries, desperately clutching at the merman, forgets about charms and false feelings and betrayals. All that matters is the merman lying still in his arms, almost lifeless. His hand brushes the merman’s waist and his eyes widen at the rough patches he feels there. He looks down and sees a row of the merman’s once brilliant emerald scales turn grey. Jongwoon’s eyes widen. This had never happened before.

“Donghae!” he says in hysterics, at a loss on what to do. “Look, I take it back, okay? I take everything back. You can stay, of course you can! I was just being stupid. God, I’d throw myself off a bridge again just to prove to you how sorry I am. Just please…”

Another minute, another row begins to turn grey and Jongwoon suddenly remembers the glass marble he’d kept in the bathroom counter. He stands, suddenly filled with resolve. He retrieves the glass marble before hurrying back to the merman.

He then takes a blanket, lifts Donghae into his arms and wraps the blanket around his tail. Jongwoon notices that the merman had begun to breath again and he laughs through his tears.

“Donghae, chagiya, that’s it. Just keep breathing. Please, hold on. I’m getting you help, okay.” A bitter smile. “I’m sorry, Hae. All my stupid ass ever seems to do is hurt you.”

Jongwoon then places a tender kiss on Donghae’s brow before carrying him and practically running out of his apartment.

They make their way down thankfully without any incident considering that Jongwoon was being careless and had allowed for the blanket to slip a bit.

They are about to cross the street however when suddenly, headlights shine on them and Jongwoon freezes. He looks down to see the tip of Donghae’s tail peeking out from under the blanket.

“Jongwoon-hyung,” someone calls out to him and he sees Kyuhyun go down from their grocery’s delivery van.

“Kyuhyun-ah, I can explain…” he says.

Kyuhyun takes a look at Donghae, takes in the alarming paleness of the merman’s skin and patches of dry scales that were beginning to show up on his face.

He looks up at Jongwoon with alarm. “Oh my god, hyung! What have you done?”


	40. In Transit

Jongwoon holds Donghae carefully against his chest, the merman perched on his lap as they fit into the cramped front seat of the delivery van.

He had barely closed the door when Kyuhyun started to drive.

“The eastern coast, right?” Kyuhyun had asked and Jongwoon had just nodded dumbly, too worried to wonder why the younger man didn’t seem to be bothered too much about Donghae’s exposed tail.

They drive in silence, except for Jongwoon whispering soothing words in Donghae’s ear every time the merman would make a sound. He doesn’t wake up though and Jongwoon feels his anxiety build. What did he do exactly?

"You really are stupid, aren't you, hyung?” Kyuhyun says, startling the older man. “What the hell did you even say or do to Donghae-hyung to make him like that?”

“Say?”

“Yes, what did you say to him. Words hold power, especially yours over Donghae-hyung. Whatever you said or did to him must have hurt him enough to become heartsick.”

Jongwoon looks away. He’d lashed out, accused Donghae of using a spell on him, threatened throw him out, and worst of all…

_I don’t love you, Hae._

Jongwoon curses himself. How is he supposed to take everything back?

“Kyuhyun-ah, I… the charm…”

“Aish, you humans are really, really stupid,” Kyuhyun interrupts him. “Is it really easier to believe that you were Charmed than, I don’t know, you actually falling in love with Donghae-hyung?”

“But… I didn’t think… So something I said to him made him like this?”

Kyuhyun sighs. “You really know nothing, do you? Us merfolk, did you know that we could die of a broken heart?"

Jongwoon freezes. “Us?”

Kyuhyun nods. "You know the river you found Donghae-hyung in? That was the same river I swam up to get to Ryeongu's side."

"What?"

"The merman he says charmed him when he was younger. I'm that merman, hyung.”

"What? But you… what happened to your tail?"

Kyuhyun sighs.

"There is a way, a bedtime story they tell us as kids to warn us against falling in love with you humans. A spell that only a sea witch can perform. It hurts like hell and you have to give up the thing most precious to you to get it." A bitter smile. "I wish I had been more patient. To be forgotten by your mate, not even the physical pain of shedding my tail could compare."

Jongwoon looks at Kyuhyun not knowing how to feel. Donghae had said something like that, right? About giving up his tail to be with Jongwoon? Now knowing what that would have entailed… He pulls Donghae closer to him and sobs against his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m so sorry, Hae.”

Kyuhyun sighs.

“Lucky for you, Donghae-hyung’s heartsickness isn’t that severe yet, but he’s been away from the sea for so long, he’d need to stay…”

“Okay,” Jongwoon says, not letting go of Donghae. “Okay.”

They drive in silence for a few minutes until Kyuhyun stops the van.

“We’re here, hyung,” he says and Jongwoon feels his own heart breaking.


	41. The First Prince

Jongwoon gets down from the van with Donghae in his arms, staggering a bit under the weight. He tries not to look down as more dried scales begin to show up on the merman's skin, focuses on getting them both to the water. He continues to walk, doesn't care about getting his shoes or clothes wet or the waves splashing against his body. One hand sneaks into his pocket to take out the glass marble, taking a moment to feel its texture. He doesn't remember it feeling this fragile in his hands.

_Break it,_ Bada had said. _Break it and the first prince will come._

Donghae starts gasping for breath and Jongwoon finally looks down at the merman whose body seems to be trying to get used to breathing through his gills in salt water again. Jongwoon takes in the pain on the merman's features, finds his resolve and, before he could change his mind, crushes the glass marble in his hand. Some of the shards get lodged in his flesh and he bleeds, the salt water causing even more pain but he ignores it in favor of looking at Donghae, trying to commit his face to memory. Donghae whispers something that sound like his name and suddenly, it no longer mattered if Jongwoon were being charmed  or deceived or that his feelings weren't his own. He leans down to place a kiss on the merman's lips, tears beginning to fall down his face. Damn, he was so fucking stupid.

"Donghae, I…" He begins to say but is interrupted by the sound of something, or someone, approaching from the sea and Jongwoon looks up to see someone emerge from the water.

The merman before him had an aura which was a far cry from Donghae's soft and gentle one. Tall and imposing, he had on a stern yet regal expression and was carrying a trident, the tip of his long silver tail visible beneath the surface. His eyes meet Jongwoon's and he glares.

"You, human! Who are you? How dare you summon me, Donghwa, the first prince of…" The merman trails off when he sees who Jongwoon holds in his arms.

"Donghae!" Donghwa exclaims, rushing forward, and the worry on his face finally makes Jongwoon see the similarity. So this was Donghae's brother.

Donghwa's gaze scans his brother's body and he frowns. "Heart sickness," he says upon noticing the Donghae's scale hanging from Jongwoon's necklace. "And you are his destined mate." An accusing glare. "What have you done to him, human?"

Jongwoon's voice catches in his throat, not knowing what to say. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

The merman continues to glare at him, moves to take Donghae into his arms. Jongwoon freezes, struggles against the merman's attempts to take Donghae from him.

"Human…" Donghwa says warningly.

Jongwoon swallows and forces his arms to let go.

"I'm… Will Donghae be…"

The merman looks over his dongsaeng once again and nods. "He will live, human. His heartsickness is worse than it should be only because he's been away from the sea for so long. Aish, Hae. Where have you been living all this time." A pause and the merman finally looks at Jongwoon, takes in the tears that had started to fall down the human's cheeks. Somehow, he feels pity for him.

Donghwa sighs. "I know that it was you who cause this but still… thank you for bringing him home, human," he says, before turning to leave.

Jongwoon lets out a sob when he sees the merman start to leave with Donghae in his arms. For some reason, it felt like goodbye.

“Hyung!” He forces himself to call out, the desperation seeping into his voice. “Can I… Will I ever see him again?”

For a moment, it seems that the merman hadn’t heard him.

“That’s for him to decide,” Donghwa says before he dives into the sea, leaving Jongwoon to his grief.


	42. Home?

Donghae dreams.

Somehow, he’s back in that dirty river, hiding under the bridge at his usual spot, waiting for the sun to set. He winces at the pain -- somehow he got his side sliced open against a stray piece of metal that came drifting through his part of the river. For the thousandth time, he wonders if he should go home. This river was filthy, practically dead thanks to humans and their destructive ways, but then he remembers one particular human, the one whose face he remembers for some reason even if he’s only seen him from afar. That human has fascinated him from the first time he saw him so Donghae chooses to stay and wait.

Right on schedule, the human passes by riding that weird chariot with the two turning things. Donghae smiles in spite of the pain in his side — if only he could find some fresh water to clean up — but then the human staggers and he’s suddenly toppling over and falling off the bridge.

Donghae lets out a strangled cry as he watches the human plummet towards the river. He tries to move forward but finds that he couldn’t, suddenly held back by black tendrils of… was that hair? The same black tendrils that hold him in place rush forward towards the human, wrapping around his body, his legs, his neck. The human starts to gasp for breath and Donghae struggles against his bindings.

Their eyes meet and suddenly Donghae remembers a name.

“Jongwoon!” Donghae cries, waking up with a start, heart racing. He looks around for the other in a panic. “Jongwoon! Where are you? Jongwoon!”

The words come out garbled and it is only then that he realizes he’s underwater. He feels his gills open and close, letting in the sea water, the sensation quite foreign after having breathed above the sea for the past few months. A flash of memory and he remembers lips tracing those flaps of skin. Donghae blushes and then pales. Jongwoon… the memory of cold dark eyes staring at him and those cursed words make his heart ache.

“I don’t love you, Hae,” he remembers Jongwoon saying before the heartsickness became too much for him and he passed out.

He shakes his head as fresh tears begin to fall, drawing his tail close to him, curling up in what he now recognizes as his clam back home.

“Jongwoon,” he sobs. “Jongwoon.”

It couldn’t be, right? Jongwoon couldn’t have meant those words, couldn’t have abandoned him. After all, Donghae was still alive, wasn't he? He remembers soothing words and gentle kisses when he'd drifted in and out of consciousness and those couldn’t have been just his imagination, right? He looks at his wrists, his arms where some of the dried up scales have fallen off, leaving some scars. He was healing, maybe a bit slower than expected, but he wasn’t dying and that actually said a lot about Jongwoon’s feelings. That gave him hope.

He pushes himself up, fuelled by his desire to find his way back to his human, but promptly falls back down. He wonders how long he's been out for his arms to lose their strength.

"Donghae?" Someone suddenly calls his name and looks up to see two merfolk approaching. Donghae sighs as he fails to recognize them once again.

"My son. You're awake," the mermaid with the beautiful face and long orange hair says, tears falling as she swims towards him. It suddenly hits him.

"Omma," Donghae says, as he allows her to hug him. "Omma."

"Welcome home, our precious Hae," Donghae's mother says. "We've been waiting for you."


	43. Mothers know best, right?

Donghae smiles as his mother wraps her arms around him and closes his eyes. He missed this. He wasn't lying when he told Jongwoon that his mother gave the warmest hugs.

His mother releases him after a while and takes his face in her hands, tears in eyes so much like his own. "Donghae," she says. "My Donghae-ah. You've been gone for so long. I thought I'll never see you again."

"Omma," Donghae says. He wasn't sorry for running away, not really. He can't remember exactly why but something  told him that if  he didn't run away, he would have regretted it. Besides, if he didn't run away, he wouldn't have met Jongwoon. "Omma, I'm—“

"Shh. It's okay, dear. Omma understands. It must have been overwhelming for you, with me suddenly announcing your betrothal to Siwon but Donghae, please understand, omma just wants what's best for you, okay, and Siwon is…"

Donghae shakes his head, starts covering his ears. Betrothal? Ah, so that's why he ran away.

"No, omma," Donghae cries. "I don't want to hear it. "Not then. Especially not now that I've found my destined mate. Jongwoon is… Jongwoon is all I need."

The merman who came in with Donghae's mother finally approaches them.

"Donghae," he says and Donghae recognizes his voice. “Please listen to our mother. That human, he’s not…”

"But hyung… I don't want anyone else but Jongwoon. Please, don’t make me mate with anyone else."

“Donghae," his mother tries again. "Please listen to reason. This human of yours…"

"He's not just any human, Omma," Donghae cries. "He is my destined mate and I love him."

"Even if your Jongwoon brought you back here and left you? Almost made you die of heartsickness?”

"But, Omma. I’m sure he didn't mean it. He was just confused and I…”

"He did, Hae," his brother confirms. "I'm so sorry."

"Then let me see him. Let me talk to him one last time to clear things up. I'm sure I…"

“Enough!”

Suddenly, Donghae feels a resounding slap against his cheek, looks  up to eyes flashing golden.

“Enough. I'm not listening to any more of this." His mother's usually tender gaze grows cold and Donghae shivers. "I’ve made my decision. The ceremony will push through and that is final.”


	44. A place where he can’t follow

The trip home is silent.

Jongwoon had been sitting on the shore staring blankly at the horizon for a good hour and a half when Kyuhyun came to get him.

“Come on, hyung,” Kyuhyun called out to him. “Let’s get you home. It will take a while for Donghae-hyung to recover so he won’t be coming back anytime soon. No use freezing your ass off here.”

Jongwoon didn’t seem to hear him, just continued to look out into the darkness.

“Hyung…”

“Leave me.”

“What?”

“Leave me. I won’t abandon Donghae, not this time. God, I was so stupid.”

Kyuhyun let out an exasperated sigh. “Hyung, while I agree that it was stupid of you to lash out at Donghae-hyung using that stupid excuse of a rumor just because you’re in denial about the depth of your feelings for him, further stupidity isn’t going to bring him back, you know?”

“So what do you expect me to do, huh? Just go on living my life as if nothing happened, as if I hadn’t lost…”

Jongwoon’s voice cracked and it is only then that Kyuhyun noticed the older man’s red-rimmed eyes and the fresh tears that were falling down his cheeks.

“Aish, hyung, I’m not telling you to forget him. Far from it. You’re his destined mate and the one he chose. It will take a lot for him not to find his way back to you. No matter what he has to give up, even if he thinks he will be hated, he’ll find a way to return to you.” A sad smile. “Trust me, I know.”

Jongwoon had looked at Kyuhyun then and a look of understanding passed between them. Kyuhyun extended a hand for the other to take and pulled him up. Silently, they walked back to the van.

Kyuhyun stops the van before Jongwoon’s apartment, waits for the older man to get off, is surprised when he speaks instead.

“So what do I do now, Kyuhyun-ah?” Jongwoon asks, sounding so lost that Kyuhyun couldn’t help feeling a bit of pity. He pauses for a while, thinks of what he could say that didn’t sound sarcastic or condescending.

“You wait, hyung.” He says at length. “You wait and trust in Donghae-hyung’s feelings for you and your own as well.”

“I should have done that in the first place.” A humorless laugh. “I should have just—”

“But you didn’t and what’s done is done. Just man up and face the consequences.”

“But it hurts too much.”

”Of course it does, hyung. That pain… it’s a small price you have to pay.”

“For what?”

“For being a stupid human.” Kyuhyun smiles cheekily. “Anyway, you should get off now. I still have somewhere else to be.”

Jongwoon nods, unclasps his seatbelt.

“Thank you. I… wouldn’t have thought you’d actually care. So thank you.”

Kyuhyun snort and waves him off. “I’m lazy, not heartless. Though, for real, get off now.”

Jongwoon allows himself a small smile as he does as he is told.

“Good night, Kyuhyun-ah.”

“Good night, hyung. Oh and do have a proper rest. Carrying a full-grown merman around must be hell on your back.”

And with that, he drives off leaving Jongwoon to make his way back to his once again empty apartment.


	45. Hyung

Donghae stares at his mother's back as she swims away, the pale gold scales of her tail glinting  in the dim light. He raises a hand to his cheek, still in shock. His mother, his sweet gentle mother who had never hurt a barnacle in her life, just slapped him. Donghae didn't know how to feel about it. Should he be angry? Confused? Afraid? He shudders as he remembers the look in her eyes.

“She’s been strange ever since you were gone,” Donghwa breaks the silence and Donghae jumps. He had forgotten that his hyung was still there.

"Hyung, what…"

"Ever since you left, mother seemed to have become obsessed with the idea of getting you mated with Siwon. It was… strange. Before your mating ceremony, mother talked to me and told me that she was actually having second thoughts about it but seeing that Siwon was the most eligible of your suitors and you aren't getting any younger…" Donghwa sighs. "Well, the point is no one changes their mind that quickly unless…"

"Hyung, I don't understand what you're saying."

Another sigh. "What I'm saying is," Donghwa leans down to whisper in Donghae's ear. "I think our mother is being controlled."

"Controlled?"

"Yes. It's been done before. I've heard there's a spell but the only sea witch powerful enough to cast it on a royal… well, let's just say our father had already taken care of that problem long before either of us was born."

"So it's just a spell, right? Omma doesn't mean to hurt me? She’s just…” Donghae stops, eyes widening in sudden understanding. So it was normal after all — latching onto any sort of explanation, no matter how farfetched, for something one prefers to believe isn’t true — and maybe that was  what happened with Jongwoon. Donghae frowns. But then, what was it that the human had been so in denial about that he preferred to believe Donghae had used a spell on him?

"Donghae?" Donghwa calls his name, worry in his voice. "You spaced out. Are you okay?"

Donghae shakes his head, attempts to smile. "It's nothing, hyung. What you told me just now is something I need time to absorb. But hyung,” he turns pleading eyes on the other merman. “The mating ceremony, please don't let me go through with it. I really might die, hyung. If it isn't Jongwoon, I probably would prefer that I just did turn into sea foam and…"

Donghwa gives Donghae an appraising look. "So you really do love that human, Hae?"

"Yes, hyung. I do," Donghae says without any hesitation.

"Even if he seems to bring you nothing but heartache."

"That's not true."

"What?"

"That's not true, hyung. Jongwoon… he may seem like he’s fickle-minded but he kept me alive, hyung. I would have given up and let myself waste away in that dirty river if it weren't for the idea of seeing him every day. And after I saved his life, he took me in and fed me and showed me a lot of things that I would never even have dreamt of experiencing had I stayed here." A fond smile. "I was happy, hyung. The tub was cramped and the food strange at times but sitting down together for a meal and talking about the things we did during the day, those were some of my happiest moments."

Donghwa is silent for a while. "So you really do remember those things, don't you, Hae?"

"Yes. I remember everything, hyung, even my Jongwoon's face."

Donghwa's eyes widen at the revelation. "Hae, that…"

Donghae meets his brother's eyes then. "Yes, hyung. That's how I know it's real aside from my special scale falling off."

Donghwa nods, seeming to have reached a decision. "Okay."

"What?"

"Okay. I'll see what I can do about the ceremony. In the meantime, you should rest. Gain back your strength."

And for the first time since they were young, Donghae sees the usually stern face of his hyung break into a genuine smile.

"You'll be needing it to make it back to where your human is."


	46. Empty Tub

Jongwoon stares blankly at the ceiling of his bathroom, soaking in a warm bath.

It was almost a week since he had left Donghae at the eastern shore, a long week of moping and thinking and sobbing uncontrollably every time he'd see something that would remind him of the merman: the manga Donghae was reading, his favorite variety show, his bowl, the notebook sheets Donghae was practicing his writing on — he'd already managed to learn how to write his own name and was beginning to learn Jongwoon's, the characters which started out like random lines and curves slowly beginning to take form as he practiced. The bathroom, the room in his house that Jongwoon had spent most of his time in the last couple of months, had almost become off limits, too many memories of too many mistakes and missed chances and cheerful greetings of "Welcome home, Jongwoon. How was your day?"

Thankfully, Jongjin had noticed his brother's sudden reclusiveness and on the sixth day, came breaking down his door and demanding an explanation, only to find his brother curled up on the couch, fast asleep, the dark circles under his eyes indicating that it was an exhaustion-induced one. Jongjin looked around at the mess of the apartment, immediately went to the bathroom to ask Donghae what happened only to find it empty. That was strange. The last time he and Jongwoon had talked, he had asked him how his date went and Jongwoon had perked up visibly as he told him about it. So it just didn't make sense to find his brother in this state now with Donghae gone, everything else in the bathroom still the way he remembered them to be during his last visit.

Jongjin returned to the living room to find Jongwoon sitting up on the couch, staring at the bags of food on the living room table.

"Hyung," he said and Jongwoon looked at him with such a dead expression in his eyes that Jongjin thought better than to ask him the first thing that came to his mind.

“I brought food,” he says instead. “Let me draw you a bath, okay, so you could freshen up while I heat things up?"

Jongwoon just stared blankly at his brother for several moments before he nodded and Jongjin went off to prepare his bath.

Jongwoon lets out a sigh, the warm bath soothing his aching muscles. He wonders what caused the pain — not moving from where he was for so many days or the strain of having to carry a full grown merman a couple of pounds heavier than his own weight. The thought makes him tear up once again, the bath tub suddenly feeling huge and empty.

He remembers the last time he and Donghae had shared a bath before he ruined everything. They had been so happy, soaking together in the bubble bath he had drawn while Donghae lay against him, giggling as he played with the bubbles. "I love you, Jongwoon," Donghae had said and Jongwoon closes his eyes at the memory. Looking back, Jongwoon realizes with a pain in his heart that he had been really, truly in love with the merman after all.

The microwave chimes somewhere in the kitchen and Jongwoon swallows, the mere thought of food making him nauseous. He lies back further, the bath water reaching the back of his neck, and loses himself in its calming movement.

It barely takes a minute before he gives in to his tiredness and falls asleep, Donghae's clear golden eyes following him into his dreams.


	47. Dongsaeng

Jongwoon dreams.

He is in the middle of a crowded street, waiting at the crossing for the light to change to green. He looks at the business men and office workers around him, feeling underdressed in his plain black shirt and jeans. He adjusts his grip on his backpack, starts to cross when his eyes catch a glint of emerald in the periphery and he turns to it, is surprised to find himself looking at an all too familiar face.

“Donghae!” Jongwoon finds himself shouting, pushing his way through the crowd and towards the post the other was leaning on.

“Donghae!” Jongwoon calls again, so sure that this was his Donghae, doesn’t bother wondering about why or how the merman suddenly grew legs.

He quickens his pace, practically running towards Donghae when suddenly, another man approaches and offers a hand out to the former merman.

Jongwoon watches a smile spread across Donghae’s face as he reaches out to take the man’s hand.

“No!” Jongwoon screams and Donghae finally looks at him, usually expressive eyes devoid of any emotion.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon says, trying to catch his breath as he walks up to them. “Look, I’m sorry for what I said. I was stupid and confused and I… I don’t hate you. I can never hate you so please, let’s get you home, okay?”

He walks closer and reaches out to take Donghae’s hand in his only for the other to pull back.

Jongwoon looks up, confused.

“Donghae?”

Golden eyes look at him and Donghae says in a crystal clear voice. “I’m sorry, mister, but who are you?”

Jongwoon feels the ground disappear from under his feet and suddenly he is falling, his last vision that of Donghae looking expressionlessly at him as the unknown man hugs his from behind.

“Hyung!”

Jongwoon wakes up to someone calling his name and shaking his shoulders.

“Hyung! Wake up! Please!”

He opens his eyes and sees Jongjin holding him up, half-inside the tub, a panicked expression on his face.

“Hyung, what the heck? You fell asleep and almost drowned. I thought you… If I hadn’t checked on you…”

Jongwoon just looks at him, trying to process everything. So everything was a dream, huh? And he almost drowned in his tub?”

“Jongjin-ah,” he says, sitting up. “I’m sorry but…”

“What happened, hyung?” Jongjin asks. “What happened to Donghae-hyung? What happened to make you be like this?”

Jongwoon shudders, his dream (nightmare?) still fresh in his memory. “He… I… I made a mistake, Jongjin-ah.”

Jongwoon curls up, hugging his knees. “I messed up and now he’s gone and I…”

Jongjin then watches as his brother breaks down — his strong, reliable older brother reduced to a whimpering mess. His heart hurts and he goes to hug Jongwoon.

“Shh, hyung. I don’t know what you did, and I’m not going to ask, but I’m sure Donghae-hyung wouldn’t want you to be acting like this.”

“I know,” Jongwoon says. “I know, Jongjin-ah, but god, I miss him so much.”

"Then why don’t we go get him back, hyung?"

“What?”

“Donghae-hyung… let’s go get him back, okay?”


	48. Roses, Turtle Plushies, and a Tumbler of Smoothie

After some minutes of wallowing in self pity and broken attempts at telling Jongjin what happened, Jongwoon finally allowed his dongsaeng to guilt trip him into getting dressed and stepping out of his apartment for lunch, coffee, and some smoothies. They then had gone to the mall to get a bouquet of red roses, a tin can of chocolate-covered strawberries, and a turtle plushie before getting back into Jongjin’s car and driving off. Jongwoon’s eyes widen when he realizes that they are driving towards the eastern coast.

“So, this is your idea of getting Donghae back, huh?” Jongwoon raises a brow at Jongjin, sipping at his iced americano, finally awake enough to make the connection between the things in the back seat of Jongjin’s car and what his brother had said in his bathroom.

Jongjin smiles sheepishly. “Well, I don’t really have any experience with dating mermen but I figured you can never go wrong with roses and chocolates?”

“And the turtle plushie?”

Jongjin shrugs. “I don’t know, hyung. It kind of looks like you so hopefully it would make Donghae-hyung think of you when he sees it.”

“Jongjin-ah, I don’t think I made it clear enough to you but Donghae… he’s kind of underwater. Last time I checked, neither of us can breathe underwater. Plus, I’m not even sure if he’s recovered already or if he would even want to see me after what I said.”

“Aish, hyung. We’ve been over this. He will see you. And you can always call his brother, right, in case Donghae-hyung is too weak to swim up here.”

Jongwoon shakes his head. “His brother told me to wait. Besides, I don’t have any more of those glass beads that can be used to summon him.”

Jongjin purses his lips thoughtfully. “Well, then, I guess we have no choice but to just send all these floating and hope they reach Donghae-hyung?”

Jongwoon groans and wonders how he’d ever considered Jongjin to be the smart one in the family.

—

Jongwoon and Jongjin get to the eastern coast just as the sun begins to set. They take the “peace offerings” from the car and make their way towards the spot where Jongwoon met Donghae’s brother.

Jongwoon looks out to the sea. Has it really been just a week? He takes off his sneakers and folds up his pants before taking all the items they brought and wading into the water.

“Donghae!” he calls. “Donghae! Please, if you can hear me, please come up.”

Silence, except for the sound of waves rushing to the shore.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon tries again. “Look, I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t mean anything I said. If you come back, I promise to make everything up to you.”

Still nothing.

Jongwoon sighs. Maybe this really was a stupid idea.

“Fine, if you don’t want to talk to me, I kind of get it so uhm, I guess I’ll just leave these floating here in case you want them. I hope you enjoy the chocolate strawberries and the smoothie at least.”

More silence.

“Uhm, I’ll be going now.” A pause. “I miss you, Hae. Truly, I do.”

Jongwoon then turns away and walks back to the shore, not noticing a pair of eyes watching him from behind a rock.


	49. A cinnamon roll for your thoughts

Ryeowook sighs for what feels like the thousandth time that day. It’s been a week since he’d spoken to Jongwoon on that bench along the riverbank and he hasn’t really heard from the older man since then. Jongwoon… he wonders what happened. He didn’t show up for work the next day, didn’t pick up when Ryeowook called nor reply to his messages. He had planned to check on Jongwoon himself when Kyuhyun suddenly arrived saying he’d be taking over Jongwoon’s shifts for the time being. When asked if he knew anything, Kyuhyun just shrugged, told him not to worry about it, and that Jongwoon just needed time.

“Time for what?” Ryeowook had asked only to be ignored.

Someone places a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll in front of him and Ryeowook looks up to find Kyuhyun smiling down at him before he takes the seat opposite from him.

“A cinnamon roll for your thoughts?” Kyuhyun says and Ryeowook laughs.

“Only you would try to bribe me with food from my own café, Kyukyu,” he says, exasperated.

“Is it working?” Kyuhyun replies cheekily.

“Maybe.” A sigh. “Kyu, am I a bad person?”

“What… why’d you ask?”

“Well, I was just thinking… maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. I mean, Jongwoon-hyung and Donghae-hyung, they both seemed so happy and I… I don’t really know what came over me.”

Kyuhyun looks at him intently and Ryeowook has to look away. For some reason, he hadn’t been able to look Kyuhyun in the eye since their somewhat strange conversation by the river.

“Ryeongu… No, you aren’t a bad person. A bit misinformed, probably, but your heart is in the right place.” And then Kyuhyun surprises Ryeowook by reaching out a hand and placing it on his clasped ones on the table, his thumb gently rubbing over the back of Ryeowook’s hand. Ryeowook’s heart skips a beat at the gesture which seemed to be far more intimate than it should be. A smile. “Don’t worry. Jongwoon-hyung and Donghae-hyung, something tells me things will work out for them. They are destined for each other after all.”

“Destined?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of similar to what you hu… I suppose you could call them soulmates.”

“Soulmates, huh? I really didn’t peg you as the romantic type, Kyukyu.”

“Well, I’m not really. I’m just kinda rooting for them for selfish reasons,” Kyuhyun says with a fond expression. “If things work out between the two of them, it would somehow give me hope that someday you… Ah, but maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Ryeowook’s eyes widen. For a minute there, he thought…

Aish, his thoughts have been getting stranger and stranger ever since that day. He looks down at Kyuhyun’s hand covering his and suddenly remembers something.

“Kyu, that day at the river, you were quite insistent about me not being charmed, as if you know something that I don’t. I mean, I think we’ve known each other for as long as I could remember so you wouldn’t keep anything from me that concerned me, right?”

Silence.

“Right?”

Kyuhyun just looks at him sadly before taking his hand back and Ryeowook suddenly shudders at the loss of its warmth.

“Kyukyu?”

 “Ryeongu, I’m sorry. Break time’s over. I… I have to go.”

And with that, Kyuhyun practically runs into the kitchen, leaving a confused Ryeowook behind.


	50. Siwon

Siwon sighs as he stares blankly out at the sprawling city of coral and shell houses below, lost in thought. It had taken him a couple of seasons to get here — the capital, a sprawling mass of interconnected structures which was the center of activity in this part of the ocean. This isn't how he expected to reach where he was now though, childhood promises which could no longer be fulfilled replaced by duty and honor and the need to get back what was taken from him, from them.

It wasn't like he particularly wanted to be where he was, didn't particularly care about marrying the second prince — Donghae he was called and was, if the rumors were to be believed, as beautiful if not as unpredictable as the East Sea after which he was named. Siwon sighs. He hadn't met his intended yet, was supposed to meet him only at the mating ceremony a couple of moons back if only the prince hadn't escaped. The Queen appeared apologetic though, deep down, Siwon had a feeling that she was having second thoughts about the union as well. Luckily, Siwon had enough magic saved up to perform a hypnosis charm that had the Queen pretty much in the palm of his hand. Too bad he couldn't just go after the Queen or one of the many princesses, the power he is after running only along the family's male line and since the first prince already had a mate…

Siwon grits his teeth. He hated that he had to become a part of this family, the family that effectively destroyed his. It was a pity that the King had already passed away before he had the chance to take his revenge.

A servant comes to inform him that the Queen is calling for him, probably to inform him about his intended's return. It wasn't really news. Siwon's whisperers were quite good at their job, one of them even saying that Donghae had managed to fall in love with a human during the time he was above sea.

Love. Siwon scoffs. He had loved once, back when he was young and naïve, before he was confronted by the bitter reality that you cannot make someone love you back just by loving them, even if you  sacrifice everything for their happiness, if their happiness lies somewhere beyond your reach. Ah, but he was getting distracted.

Siwon follows the servant out of his room and down the corridor, the latter's tail reminding him of another's pearl blue one shining in the darkness of the cave he once lived in and mischievous eyes smiling at him as they called his name. Siwon grits his teeth and reminds himself for the thousandth time of the reason why he was doing this instead of running after the one he lost.

“For omma,” he tells himself. “You’re doing this for her.”

For now, that had to be enough.


	51. Bubble Wrapped

Donghae is bored. He has been up for a couple of days now and though he was still too weak to swim around much, he at least could sit up and amuse himself by making bubbles around him. Donghae sighs. If only the heartsickness hadn’t taken such a toll on him, he would’ve been halfway to the surface by now, never mind if he’d totally forgotten how to get back to the dirty river where he first saw Jongwoon. He’d rather risk it than be forced into a union he did not want.

He wonders how Jongwoon was doing. Time seemed to pass differently under the sea and above surface but Donghae is sure the human would at least have gotten lunch by now, or at least he hoped so. Jongwoon wasn’t really that good at feeding himself and there were times when Donghae had to force Jongwoon to eat some of the food he had gotten for the merman. Ah, Donghae missed sushi. And the weird tasting squid. And the smoothies Jongwoon made him. And Jongwoon. Of course he missed the human more than anything else. He wonders if the human missed him too or if he still thought Donghae had used a charm on him and hated him. The thought makes Donghae’s heart hurt again and he begins to curl up into a ball, only to sit up curiously as Donghwa swims into his room, several bubbles floating after him.

“Donghae,” Donghwa greets him. “You’re awake again. How are you feeling?”

“Bored,” Donghae pouts. “And tired. I tried swimming to the door today but my tail gave out midway and I had to crawl back to my clam. So yeah, that was fun.”

“Donghae…”

“Kidding, hyung. Or at least half-kidding. Anyway, whatcha got there?”

Donghwa gives Donghae a strained smile. “I was checking something out near the East shore when I heard someone making a racket. I checked to see what it was about and, well, I guess these are yours.”

Donghae blinks as Donghwa waves the bubbles over to him. Upon closer look, each bubble contained a different item. A tin can. A tumbler. Flowers. A… toy turtle? Donghae’s heart skips a beat. Were all these…

Donghae reaches out a trembling hand to pop the bubble containing the tumbler. It falls into his hands and Donghae’s eyes widen at the familiar design.

“Hyung,” he asks hesitantly, not daring to get his hopes up. “Where did you get these?”

Donghwa sighs. “Your human left them floating near the shore after he got tired of crying and shouting your name and apologizing. He was quite a pitiful sight so I thought I’d at least bring these to you to see if you want to… Hae? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Donghae had popped the bubble containing the turtle plushie and was now sobbing into its neck.

“Hae?”

“Jongwoon! Hyung, he’s not mad at me. I thought… This must mean he doesn’t hate me, right, hyung?”

Donghwa’s usually stern eyes soften and he gathers his younger brother into a hug. “No, I don’t think your human… Jongwoon doesn’t hate you, Hae. In fact, I think he… ah, but that is something you should hear from him, right?”

“Hyung?”

“Get stronger soon, Hae. I think I’ve figured out a way to get you out of here.”


	52. Turnabout is fair play

Jongwoon comes to work the next day, apologizes profusely to a distracted Ryeowook for having missed so many days of work.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, hyung. Kyu covered for you.” Ryeowook says.

Jongwoon makes a mental note to thank the younger man when he sees him later this afternoon, though he supposes he shouldn’t be surprised after what Kyuhyun had told him.

Ryeowook sighs and continues. "After all, I guess it's partly my fault. I…may have crossed the line with telling you about…"

Jongwoon shakes his head and gives him a small smile. "Ah, don't worry, Ryeowook-ssi. I know you meant well. Besides, how I reacted… I wouldn't have done so if a part of me wasn't unsure about my feelings. You just managed to give the uncertain me a way out. So yeah…"

Ryeowook is surprised. Jongwoon seemed to be taking things a bit more calmly now compared to how Kyuhyun made him think the other was doing. He coughs. “So, uhm, how's Donghae-hyung?"

Jongwoon sighs. "I don't know. He's still… gone. All I can really do right now is wait for him to come back."

"Hyung… so it really wasn't a charm, huh?"

Jongwoon shakes his head. "No, I don't think it was. At this point, I don't think it even matters since I doubt any spell could make me feel how I feel for him."

"And that is…"

"Love, Ryeowook-ssi. It has taken so much but now I'm sure of my feelings. I love Donghae." A pause. "Ryeowook-ssi, I don’t know how to say this but maybe what you’ve been thinking of as the truth this entire time isn’t what it really is. It really helps taking a step back and seeing things from a different perspective. Who knows, you might just find the answers you didn’t know you're looking for."

And with that, Jongwoon bows and goes to man cashier.

"Love, huh?" Ryeowook says, looking after him, the older man's cryptic words chipping away at what he thought to be the truth for so long and for the first time since he was fifteen, the pearl blue scale he's been holding onto flickers once with a  warm light.


	53. Of socks and locker rooms

Jongwoon walks into the grocery’s locker room to find Kyuhyun sitting on the bench, one sock on while he holds the other, staring at in blankly lost in thought. Jongwoon clears his throat and Kyuhyun jumps, just realizing that he isn’t alone.

“Hyung! You’re back!”

Jongwoon smiles. “Yeah. Thanks for covering for me, both here and at the café.” A pause. “Are you okay? You seem bothered. You know you can talk to me about anything that’s bothering you, right?”

Kyuhyun looks down at the sock he was holding.

“Socks,” he says.

“What?”

“Socks. I will never understand them.” A small smile. “I remember the first time I had to put them on. I was found by a middle-aged couple on the shore, the night I exchanged my tail for a pair of legs. There I was, freezing my ass off not knowing how to make these weird human limbs work when a light shone on me. I was scared, of course — Ryeonggu had been the only human I’d met until then — but the couple looked so kind. They brought me home and fed me soup and when it was time to go to sleep, the woman handed me a pair of socks. I was stumped. I mean, it should’ve been obvious what they were for but I didn’t know what to do with them. So she helped me put them on and I remember thinking that they were so warm.”

“Kyuhyun-ah…”

“Sometimes, hyung, I really just want to give up. Sometimes I get so tired of waiting, I just want to crawl back into the ocean and have it take me, with or without a tail.” A sad smile. “But then I remember Ryeonggu’s smile, his laugh, and all the people I’ve met because of him and I can’t imagine things going any other way.”

“Kyu… Why don’t… Have you tried telling him the truth?”

Kyuhyun sighs. “I can’t, hyung. At least, not directly. It’s one of the restrictions of the spell. I can’t tell him or else I would lose my voice completely and I… I don’t know what I’d do if I lose one of the few things that allow me to stay by Ryeonggu’s side.”

“Do you want me to tell him, then?”

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “Thanks for the offer, hyung, but I have to believe… It will lose its meaning if he doesn’t realize it on his own.”

“Ah… So you’ll wait?”

“Yeah. For as long as it takes.” A sad smile. “But you know the feeling, right, hyung?”

Jongwoon laughs. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure I do, Kyuhyun-ah.”


	54. Change of plans

Donghae pops a chocolate-covered strawberry into his mouth as he lies on his clam, bored out of his mind. He’s gotten a lot stronger now, thinks he could actually manage to make it at least halfway to the surface if he really put his mind to it, but Donghwa told him to lie low, not to let anyone know how fast he is recovering, so he’d had to fake several fainting spells here and there when other merfolk were present. He sighs, wishing there was some sort of magic spell that could instantly bring him to Jongwoon’s side. But right now, Donghwa’s plan was his best option. He reaches for the turtle plushie and hugs it to his chest, smiling as he begins his daily ritual of imagining Jongwoon’s face feature by feature, so afraid that he would one day forget it. He’d only gotten to Jongwoon’s nose when he hears someone approaching and immediately hides the stuff Jongwoon gave him, curling around the turtle plushie protectively.

“—hae. Has the queen lost her mind? He’s barely recovered from heartsickness and now she wants to mate him off within three days? The poor kid.”

“Hush, omma. Don’t say such things.  These walls have ears and the queen…”

The voices trail off as they move past Donghae’s room. Once they are gone, the merman sits up in alarm. Three days! The mating ceremony was in three days and no one even bothered telling him! He and Donghwa thought they would have had more time to execute their plan but with this new development, it almost seemed impossible. But no! He refuses to give up without a fight! So, with a newfound resolve, Donghae gets off his claim, retrieves his precious items and packs them into a net, already thinking of a way to at least get out of the palace undetected. He remembers part of his and Donghwa’s plan and retrieves some of the squid ink Donghwa had begun stashing in his room, rubbing it all over his tail and torso. When he is finished, he retrieves a makeshift blade before going to his reflecting glass.

He hesitates a bit — he’d always liked keeping his hair at this length and was worried about Jongwoon not liking anything shorter on him.

‘Stupid,’ Donghae chides himself. ‘You wouldn’t even get to find out if Jongwoon likes your hair long or short if you get mated off before you get back to him.’

With that, Donghae tightens his grip on the blade and begins cutting off his shoulder-length hair into a more practical if uneven cut. Once he’d cut off enough, Donghae looks quickly turns around, not bothering to check his reflection.

He retrieves his net, ties it around his torso, before swimming out of his window and into the darkness.

He barely manages to get outside the palace grounds before he is discovered. The guards who see him think he is an intruder and sound the alarm. Donghae quickly changes course and makes for the coral caves just outside the capital’s first district where he and Donghwa had played as children. He manages to get there before the guards, weaving in and out of some corals before hiding behind one, breathing heavily.

“Damn it, where’d he go?” One guard exclaims. “Is he part squid or something?”

“Idiot! Didn’t you notice? He might have disguised himself but that was Prince Donghae! Quick! We have to find him before the captain gets here.”

Donghae heaves a sigh of relief when he hears the guards swim away, is about to swim in the other direction when he feels someone clap a hand on his mouth and pull him back into the darkness.


	55. Sushi 🍣

Jongwoon sighs as he makes his way down the bridge he’d fallen off of for the first time since he’d taken Donghae back to the ocean. He’d been taking the long way home every single day, trying hard to stay away from places and things that would remind him of Donghae but he was suddenly craving sushi that night and decided to treat himself to some even if he'd most likely end up ugly-crying against the bath tub later because of the memories of the merman that would conjure.

He sighs, looking over the bridge railing, eyes automatically drawn to that part of the riverbank where he first "met" Donghae, the full moon providing enough light in the darkness. For some reason, it seemed that it was calling out to him so Jongwoon shrugs and goes with his instinct. He was surely going to have another pity party anyway — what was more pain?

He calmly goes down the stairs that leads to the riverbank, swinging the paper bag containing his meal and a couple of cans of beer in hand, considering actually eating his meal at The Spot™. He remembers hearing an English song a couple of months ago about a man who'd actually taken up living in the place where he first met his lover who left him and refusing to move in hopes that she will return to that place. The first time he heard the lyrics, he'd actually laughed at how pathetic that man was, but then look where he is now.

Jongwoon sighs again as he nears what he is so sure is The Spot™ and takes a seat. He remembers seeing Donghae stretched out beside him in the moonlight, looking ethereal in spite of the pain, remembers being mesmerized by his beauty at first glance. And the merman saved his life. Out of all the fairy tale clichés, it was the least possible thing to happen and yet…

Jongwoon shakes his head and takes out the pack of sushi he bought, a pair of chopsticks, and a can of slightly chilled beer. He pops the can open before removing the cover from his meal and digging in, staring at the full moon reflected beautifully on the river's surface. Ah, wouldn't Donghae have loved this sight? For the first few days, it felt strange eating alone but now, for the first time in a while, Jongwoon feels at peace with himself.

He finishes his sushi and his beer too soon, starts to clean up when he hears a sudden splash. He ignores it. Surely it was just some of the local kids skipping stones on the other side of the river. Another splash, some movement this time closer to his side and he looks up in time to see a familiar head peek out of the river's surface, looking around apprehensively. Their eyes meet and Jongwoon has to pinch himself to check if this was real or just an alcohol-induced fevered dream.

The figure approaches him and Jongwoon recognizes him, in spite the short hair and black substance covering the parts of the merman actually visible above water. He feels his breath catch and a lone tear make its way down his cheek.

"D-donghae?" He forces himself to speak against the lump in his throat, asking just to be sure.

The merman just looks at him for a while, taking in his features, before his expression relaxes.

"Hello, Jongwoon," Donghae says, smile as bright and warm as Jongwoon remembers, eyes gleaming gold in the moonlight. "I'm home."


	56. Donghae's Escape

Donghae struggles against his captor, cursing his weakness. His body still hasn’t fully recovered so he knows his struggle might be in vain but damn it if he wasn’t going to try. He'd already gotten this far — there was no way he'd be going down without a fight. Recalling his training, he elbows his attacker in the ribs, going for the sensitive fold of his gills. His attacker hisses when he hits his mark.

"Shh, Donghae. Stop struggling. Do you really want the guards to find you?"

Donghae's eyes widen and he relaxes, turning around. "Hyung!" he whispers. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were…"

Donghwa grimaces, giving him a once over. "Ah. I guess I should be glad that you can still actually defend yourself but Hae, what in the seven seas are you doing here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Donghae shakes his head. "No, hyung. I just heard some servants talking and they said that my mating ceremony is in three days so I panicked and ran away and now here I am.”

"Three days?" Donghwa says. "I was not informed."

"Obviously, neither was I. It's too soon, hyung, so I had to do something."

"But Hae, you're not well enough to…"

They hear some voices approaching and exchange panicked looks. Donghwa looks at Donghae with a serious expression, searching for something in his younger brother's eyes. After a moment, he nods. He grabs hold of Donghae's shoulders.

"Hae," he says. "Normally, I would tell you to wait, to let me try to do delay the ceremony but something tells me that you wouldn't be able to wait that long so listen… I've started marking a lesser known path to the river you described to me. Just follow the glass beads as you did when we were children and hopefully, it will lead you to the right one." A pause. "The palace… it may no longer be the place you'd call 'home' but please remember that hyung loves you. I'll get omma to see the error of her ways soon. Now go. I'll try to hold them off."

"Hyung, what—"

Donghwa just gives him a small smile. "Be free, Hae-ah," he says and with that, he swims off towards the direction of the voices.

Donghae looks after his hyung, feeling a strange sense of foreboding, but he remembers his mission and resists the urge to follow Donghwa, sends a prayer to Poseidon to keep the other safe, and with one last look, swims towards the first glass bead he sees.

—

Donghae has to take several breaks to catch his breath and to keep his tail from cramping from overexertion but he eventually reaches the end of the glass bead chain. The familiar stench of the water pollution leads him the rest of the way to the river. Thankfully, it was night time on the surface so Donghae is able to swim through the river without worrying about being sighted every time he would surface for a breath of fresh air. He narrowly avoids getting hit by several floating cans and other debris due to his fatigue but the thought of at least getting to the bridge where he'd first seen Jongwoon keeps him going. It seems like an eternity when he finally gets there. He stows his net of belongings between some of the rocks under the bridge, surprised that they'd survived this long. God, he was so tired. In the morning, he'd worry about how to get to Jongwoon from here but for now, Donghae is relieved by the thought that he and Jongwoon would finally be resting under the same sky. He finds the cluster of rocks that he'd used as his shelter some months back, was starting to curl up to sleep when he hears someone walking along the river bank and towards the spot where he had saved Jongwoon. His heart skips a beat. Surely he wasn't so lucky as to have the human actually appear before him that very same night.

Fighting against sleepiness, he listens as the human stops at their spot, a rustle of a paper bag and the sound of a can being opened reaching Donghae's ears. Curiosity gets the better of common sense and Donghae leaves his shelter and begins to swim closer to the source of the sound, stopping a couple of feet away to observe the human.

He was seated on the river bank, seeming not to care about the pollution, eating sushi from a familiar container and taking occasional sips from a can while staring across the river. The light of the full moon shines on his features and Donghae lets out a gasp. Was it really…?

He swims closer just as the human was starting to pack up, no longer caring about the sounds his tail makes in his rush. This seems to catch the human's attention  as Donghae finally surfaces and sees the face he'd thought he'd only ever see again in his dreams.

"D-donghae?" the human says, in that soft, raspy baritone that Donghae didn't realize he'd missed so much until that moment.

And Donghae smiles as it hits him that this was real. He really did make it back to where he was meant to be.

“Hello, Jongwoon,” he says amidst the tears. “I’m home.”


	57. Three words and a little bit of Pink Magic 🌸

Jongwoon freezes for a moment before the realization finally hits him and he is splashing into the dirty, freezing water, shoes and all, forgetting everything except the need to finally hold the merman in his arms. Donghae swims closer and they practically crash against each other, Jongwoon wrapping an arm around Donghae’s waist, another reaching up to hold the back of Donghae’s neck as the merman wraps both arms around Jongwoon’s neck, sobbing uncontrollably against each other.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon finally says, pulling away to frame Donghae’s face in his tiny hands, eyes taking in the face he’d wanted to see for so long. “It really is you. You came back. You actually came back.  I really thought… After what I did…”

Donghae shakes his head furiously. “No, Jongwoon. I still don’t understand but I know you didn’t mean what you said. The Jongwoon I love, my Jongwoon, would never mean to hurt me.”

“But I did and I’m so sorry, Hae, so very sorry and oh god, what if my stupid ass ends up doing something even worse in the future and I…”

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says, reaching up to hold the human’s left hand against his cheek. “Jongwoon, listen. I trust you. And if you do mess up again…” A small smile. “Well, the turtle plushie was a nice touch.”

Jongwoon blinks at the merman, surprised at how lightly he was taking things, making him feel even more that he didn’t deserve this beautiful, pure-hearted creature.

Donghae squeaks as Jongwoon pulls him forcefully against him.

“Jongwoon, what…”

And suddenly Jongwoon is kissing him, lips hungrily pressing against the merman’s with a passion Donghae had never experienced before. Donghae tries to reciprocate, tries to match the human’s intensity, but in the end could only cling to human as he practically devours him. The need to breathe makes them break apart after which they just stand there smiling stupidly at each other in spite of the tears in their eyes.

“You stupid fish,” Jongwoon says after a while, letting out a relieved laugh. “You dumb, stupid fish.”

Donghae starts to protest when he is interrupted once again this time by a gentle kiss on his lips that makes him close his eyes. He opens them to find Jongwoon looking him with such a loving expression that sends his heart beating almost out of his ribcage.

“You really must be stupid to come back to a stupid asshole like me.” A smile. “But thank you, Hae. Thank you for coming back so I could finally tell you this… I love you, my Donghae-ah. It might have taken me a while but now I’m sure. I do love you, spell or not. I’m yours for now and always.”

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says, tears falling once again at the words he’d always wanted to hear from the other. “Jongwoon, I…”

Suddenly, the emerald scale hanging from Jongwoon’s chest emits a pink light, momentarily blinding them. It surrounds Donghae with a warm glow and all Jongwoon could do is watch as it covers the merman.

When the pink light fades, Donghae’s eyes widen as he frantically clings to Jongwoon in a panic.

“Donghae?” Jongwoon asks, reaching out to steady the flailing merman. “Oh my god, Donghae, what’s happening?”

“Jongwoon!” Donghae cries, equally confused. “Jongwoon! Help me! I don’t know why but I can’t feel my tail!”

Jongwoon frowns as he allows his hands to move from Donghae’s waist further down. His eyes widen in turn when instead of scales, he makes contact with human flesh.


	58. Human

Jongwoon struggles to keep upright as Donghae flails against him, hand shaking as it moves down the merman’s side to firm thighs and legs entwined with his own. This… couldn't be possible, could it?

Donghae’s breath hitches at the sensation of hands exploring unfamiliar appendages.

“Jongwoon, what are you doing? I feel… Eep!”

Donghae squeaks as suddenly, Jongwoon is scooping him up, a hand underneath Donghae's newly-formed knees. Donghae's eyes widen even more when he sees them, reaches out to touch.

"Jongwoon, I have…" he says, taking in the human’s equally stunned expression.

Jongwoon nods. "Yes, Hae. I don't know how it happened but you now have…" His eyes widen, holding Donghae tightly, burying his face against the former merman's neck. "Oh my god, I still remember. Thank god. I don't think… It would have been too cruel to have me forget you just when you've come back."

Donghae returns the hug the best way he can, a bit puzzled at Jongwoon's outburst. "Jongwoon, I don't understand. Forget me? Why would you? Didn't you just say that you love me?"

"I did. And I do. Love you, I mean. But Kyuhyun… he said… Ryeowook forgot him when he turned himself human so I thought…”

Jongwoon trails off when Donghae just smiles blankly at him. "I love you too, Jongwoon," he says, totally ignoring the rest of what the other said.

Jongwoon blushes. "Uhm, right. Anyway, we have to get out of here before…" He accidentally looks down and promptly turns red.

"Jongwoon?"

"Ack! What? No, I wasn't looking! Definitely didn't see that you actually also grew a d—”

They hear a splash and some voices and this time, it seemed to actually be the neighborhood kids skipping stones. Jongwoon and Donghae look at each other before Jongwoon is tightening his grip on Donghae and scampering out of the water.

—

Jongwoon groans, arms straining as he carries Donghae up to his apartment, his outer button up shirt tied securely around Donghae's waist.

Donghae had looked at him strangely when they reached the river bank and Jongwoon quickly placed him down on a patch of grass and started struggling to take off his wet shirt. Dismissing it as just another strange human custom, Donghae had proceeded to take in his newly acquired limbs, curiously poking at his left then right thigh before staring at his feet, giggling when he managed to wiggle his toes. Suddenly, something fell on his lap and he had looked up to see a still red-faced Jongwoon looking anywhere but at him.

"Uhm, you should cover up."

"Hmm?"

"I mean… your…"

"My what, Jongwoon?"

Jongwoon gestured vaguely.

“I don’t understand, Jongwoon. Is this like the time you took me out to see the cherry blossoms?”

Jongwoon had given up then, stooped down and tied his shirt around Donghae's waist, the back of the shirt fully covering Donghae's front. Which brought him to his current problem…

Donghae squirms against him and Jongwoon tries not to think about the merman's naked butt currently pressing against him and how it would take just an accidental slip of the hand for him to be in contact with it, concentrates on taking the stairs one step at a time and praying that no one would see them.

Donghae is content to let Jongwoon carry him, still not used to using his legs. They'd tried to see if he could stand up but he couldn't, not even with Jongwoon's help. Jongwoon had sighed. That was another thing they glossed over in movies and fairy tales.

Donghae frowns. He'd been watching Jongwoon's increasingly reddening face, wondering what had caused it. He'd never seen the human this red except those time he'd touched Donghae's h— Oh. So was that it? Donghae isn't really sure, though, what Jongwoon touched this time that made him this red, the workings of a human body still being foreign to him.

Jongwoon stops at the top of the last flight of stairs, trying to catch his breath before walking the last few steps to his apartment. He struggles a bit to open the door while still holding onto Donghae before stepping through it. He switches on the light and looks down to find Donghae looking at him, a tender expression on his face.

"I'm home, Jongwoon," Donghae says again and Jongwoon definitely doesn't have tears in his eyes when he answers, "Welcome home, Hae."


	59. Ddangkoma

Jongwoon smiles as he watches Donghae make soap bubbles in the tub. His first order of business, next to finding the former merman a pair of his underwear that would fit, was to give Donghae a bath. Jongwoon may not have noticed it back in the river nor on the way back but Donghae, well, reeked. Aside from the stench of the river itself and some bits of trash that got stuck in Donghae crudely cut hair, there was a weird fishy smell that Jongwoon later on figured out to be coming from the patches of black on Donghae’s torso which turned out to be squid ink.

“It was a disguise,” Donghae had proclaimed proudly. “Hyung and I thought about it. I did it to get quickly back to you, Jongwoon.”

Jongwoon didn’t know what to say to that so he’d just turned on the tap and began hosing Donghae down, trying to get as much dirt off before reaching for the shampoo.

Donghae closes his eyes and smiles, leaning back against Jongwoon’s knees as he massages the shampoo onto the former merman’s scalp, enjoying the sensation of Jongwoon’s hands combing through his hair. Surprisingly, he actually missed taking baths like this. There was no need to take baths when he was underwater and neither was there a Jongwoon there to give him said baths.

Donghae’s smile widens when he feels a hand cover his eyes before the shampoo is being rinsed off gently. It takes quicker than before considering Donghae shorter hair.

“Aish, what happened to your hair, Hae?” Jongwoon asks. “It looks quite ragged.”

Donghae pouts up at him. “You don’t like my hair?”

Jongwoon sighs, wondering how he managed to talk himself into this landmine.

“No, no. I like it,” he says carefully. “I mean, any haircut looks good on you. It’s just that we might have to fix it a bit just to even things out. What did you use to cut it off anyway?”

“A blade,” Donghae says nonchalantly before his eyes widen and he clasps Jongwoon’s arm. “Jongwoon! We have to go back to the river! I left my blade and Ddangkoma behind some rocks!”

Jongwoon looks at Donghae, confused. “Ddangkoma?”

Donghae blushes. “The turtle plushie. You gave him to me so I had to name him and I remember Jongjin mentioning something about a pet turtle so…”

Jongwoon’s heart skips a beat. He’d forgotten how cute Donghae could be.

“Okay. I’ll go retrieve it tomorrow.”

“Alone? Jongwoon, I can come with you. I have legs now so I should be able to walk and…”

Jongwoon shakes his head. “Hae, you can barely stand. Maybe you should take things easy, let yourself get used to them first? We can start training tomorrow.”

“Okay, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, blinks when Jongwoon hands him a sponge. He looks up questioningly at the human to find Jongwoon blushing an averting his gaze.

“Uhm, I can do your back but you have to clean the rest of your… uhm…” Jongwoon gestures vaguely, still not looking at the former merman who had fully turned to face him.

“But Jongwoon,” Donghae protests. “I don’t know how to clean my legs!” A frown. “And this thing between them? Jongwoon, you have one too right? Only bigger? You have to teach me how to… Hey! Jongwoon! Where are you going?”

“To the river.”

“Now? What? Why? To get my things?”

_To drown myself_ , Jongwoon thinks desperately, trying to ignore less than innocent images his mind comes up with about what “teaching” the merman about the “thing” between his legs could entail. He lets out a strangled noise.

“Something like that,” he says instead, quickly runs out of the bathroom before he said or did anything else he might regret.


	60. Jongwoon’s Predicament

Jongwoon sighs as he opens the door to his apartment, clothes soaked for the second time that night. In his hand, he holds a net containing Donghae's belongings. It had taken a bit of careful wading along the shallow end of the river to find a cluster of rocks under the bridge, even more to find said net with a cheap flashlight in hand, but at least it gave Jongwoon an excuse to stay out a bit and decide how to deal with this predicament. Objectively, he knew he should have expected this the moment Donghae became human but never did it cross Jongwoon's mind that he would have to actually explain to Donghae how things worked… down there. It really wasn’t easy, especially when his mind always insisted on making him think less than innocent thoughts now that Donghae actually had anatomy that was familiar to him. Not that having those kinds of thoughts towards Donghae was a bad thing, per se, but it was just too soon to expose the other’s newly acquired body to that. Donghae could barely stand already as it is. There was no way he would survive—

Jongwoon groans, hitting himself for even thinking that far. He has to be a mature adult for once and just do what has to be done for now, any and all perverted thoughts reserved until later. With that in mind, he takes the remaining steps towards the bathroom door and yanks it open.

“Hae, I… What are you doing?”

Donghae looks up at him from where he was still seated in the tub, beaming happily. “Jongwoon! You’re back! I figured out how to clean my legs and this thing.” A proud smile. “Oh, and I think I found my hole. Why are human holes at the back, Jongwoon? I tried to clean it too but I’m not sure if I did it right. Want to check—”

Jongwoon slams the door closed before Donghae could finish that sentence, lets out a cry of frustration, then proceeds to bang his head against a nearby wall.

—

It takes roughly ten minutes of banging his head against the wall before Jongwoon could calm down enough to lay Donghae’s things out to dry and go search for a shirt for Donghae that would reach at least mid-thigh. It was well past midnight and expecting him to teach Donghae about underwear at that point was just too much. He takes out some clothes for himself as well and some fresh towels before gritting his teeth and marching towards the bathroom.

He opens the door to find Donghae happily blowing soap bubbles again. He clears his throat.

“Jongwoon!” Donghae exclaims. “You’re back! Why’d you leave again, Jongwoon?”

“Clothes. I had to get you clothes. And put your Ddangkoma in the drier. Uhm, here. Let me help you out. You must be pruning by now.”

Jongwoon lays a towel on the closed toilet seat before approaching the tub. He then bends down to pick up a surprised Donghae who instinctively wraps his arms around Jongwoon’s neck. Jongwoon then carries Donghae to the laid out towel, carefully keeping his eyes only on Donghae’s face. He then takes the other towel to dry Donghae’s hair and then his body. Once  he is sufficiently dry, Jongwoon helps into the shirt. Jongwoon then looks down at his handiwork and, when satisfied that everything that should be covered has been covered, heaves a sigh of relief at the exact moment that Donghae lets out a yawn.

“Jongwoon, I’m sleepy. Can we sleep now?” Donghae says with a pout that Jongwoon finds too cute. He resists the urge to pinch the former merman’s cheeks.

“Uhm, sure. Just let me take a quick shower. Stay put.”

Thankfully, Donghae is too sleepy to say anything else so Jongwoon manages to finish his shower and pull on his pajamas without any incident. He then lifts Donghae into his protesting arms. Donghae just lets him, eyes already closed by the time they move out of the bathroom and towards Jongwoon’s bedroom.

Once they reach the bedroom, Jongwoon gently lowers Donghae onto the bed before crawling underneath the covers with him. For a while, he just  watches Donghae’s sleeping face, eyes thankfully closed now that he’s human, and smiles. He then wraps an arm around the other’s shoulder, draws him towards his chest, bends down to place a gentle kiss on Donghae’s lips.

“Sweet dreams, chagiya,” he whispers. “I love you.”

In response, Donghae wraps an arm around his waist and draws closer without waking up, the sound of his heart beating next to Jongwoon’s enough of a response for the human who closes his eyes and follows him to dreamland.


	61. Hit or Miss

Jongwoon wakes up to a pair of golden eyes watching him up close, almost jumps out of bed in alarm if it weren’t for something heavy keeping him in place. He squints and realizes that Donghae had somehow crawled on top of him and was now watching him with a happy smile, head pillowed on arms crossed on top of Jongwoon’s chest. His heart skips a beat at arguably the most beautiful sight he’d ever woken up to in his entire life. A pause and he leans up to press a kiss on the other’s lips.

“Good morning, Hae,” Jongwoon greets, stifling a yawn and returning Donghae’s smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, Jongwoon,” Donghae replies. “Yes, I did. Jongwoon’s clam is soft and warm especially with Jongwoon in it.”

“Clam? Oh, you mean my bed? I hope I didn’t wake you. My family says I talk in my sleep sometimes.”

Donghae shakes his head. “Don’t worry. You didn’t wake me up with your talking. I felt something poking at my tail though and that’s what woke me up. Did you forget to empty your pockets last night, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon looks at him puzzled. “But I have no…” Only to have his eyes widen, blood draining from his face before rushing back up in full force when he realizes what that meant. “Oh my god, Donghae! I’m so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to… wait, what? Your… tail?” And just to check, Jongwoon moves his hands on Donghae’s waist downward and is surprised to find scales yet again.

“Donghae, you…”

“Yup!” Donghae says, smiling happily. “Seems like my tail is back, Jongwoon!”

—

Jongwoon paces in front of the tub, waiting for the person he’s calling to pick up. After the initial shock wore off, he had rushed to carry Donghae back to the tub, remembering all those times Donghae had been out of the water for too long. Once Donghae was safely submerged in water, Jongwoon had asked Donghae what happened to which the merman just shrugged and said, “I’m sorry, Jongwoon, but I don’t really know what’s going on.” At that point, Jongwoon was willing to bet that he just hallucinated everything if only he didn’t see Ddangkoma hanging from his clothesline. He sighed, gave up, and called the only person he knew could help him.

“Hyung,” Kyuhyun greets him. “What the heck! It’s 8:00 AM on a Sunday!”

“I’m sorry, Kyuhyun-ah. I have an emergency and you’re the only one I can think of calling. You see, Donghae came back yesterday.”

“Wow! That great, hyung. I’m happy for you, I really am. I just don’t think it’s worth waking me up at such an ungodly hour to…”

“No. You don’t understand, Kyu. He came back and we kissed and then there was a pink light and he suddenly lost his tail and grew legs but now we woke up and he has his tail again.”

“Pink? Hyung, are you sure you weren’t just hallucinating?”

“No! Of course not. Please tell me you actually have some explanation for this.”

“I don’t know, hyung. Maybe I should talk to Donghae-hyung. Can I come over?”

“Uhm, sure. You know the way right?”

“Yup. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

—

Jongwoon and Donghae were just starting on breakfast — pancakes and eggs, coffee for Jongwoon and a smoothie for Donghae — when they hear a knock on the front door. Jongwoon goes to answer it.

“Kyu! Thank you for coming. He’s this way.”

They both make their way to the bathroom.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says when they enter, tone a bit worried. “I think I poured too much syrup on the pancakes. I’m sorry, Jongwoon, I… Oh, hello, Kyuhyun-ssi.”

Kyuhyun smiles and waves at him. “Hello, Donghae-hyung. Welcome back. Jongwoon-hyung says you grew legs last night?”

“Oh, yes. I did. And now I have my tail back. I feel kind of sad though. I would have wanted to at least go on a proper date with Jongwoon without him having to carry me around.” Donghae’s eyes widen, pulling his tail protectively against him. “Wait, you know about my tail! Oh my god, Kyu, please say you won’t eat me. Jongwoon will be sad if you eat me.”

Kyuhyun laughs. “I won’t eat you, Donghae-hyung. In fact, I’m just like you.”

“What?”

“I’m a merman too, Donghae-hyung. I got… a friend to cast a spell on me so I can become human and go after my destined mate.”

“Oh? Have you found your mate then?”

Kyu gives Donghae a sad smile. “Yes and no. The spell had its… complications. I’m just glad that it hasn’t happened to you.”

“Complications?”

Kyuhyun just waves him off. “Don’t worry about those, Donghae-hyung. It doesn’t seem like you or Jongwoon-hyung are suffering from any. A pink light, huh? I don’t think I’ve heard of any kind of magic that gives off a pink light. If only I could…”

Suddenly, as if of cue, Donghae’s special scale glows pink once again and Donghae’s tail disappears in a flash of pink to be replaced by human legs. Donghae smiles and begins to heave himself out of the water.

Kyuhyun blinks while Jongwoon rushes forward to cover Donghae with a towel and to help him sit on the edge of the tub.

“Okay. So you weren’t hallucinating, huh?” A pause. “So you had just kissed when all this happened?”

Jongwoon blushes while Donghae nods. “Yes. But Kyuhyun-ssi, we’ve kissed lots of times before and I didn’t turn human, didn’t we, Jongwoon?”

“Donghae!”

Kyuhyun nods. “I kind of figured that it isn’t triggered by a kiss. You were practically five feet apart when you transformed right now. I’ve never heard about any spell that would cause random transformations either. The spells I’ve read up on are almost always permanent, subject to conditions.” A pause. “I have a theory though but it doesn’t make sense even in my head. Donghae-hyung, please. You must let me study you.”

“Study?”

“Absolutely not,” Jongwoon interjects. “Hae is not a lab rat.”

“Of course not,” Donghae agreed. “I’m half-fish, not half-rat.”

Kyuhyun groans, hoping stupidity wasn’t contagious. “That’s not… Fine. Just let me know if something else happens. Or if you see any pattern in the transformations and any possible triggers. It just might help me figure out a way out of this mess I’ve created for myself.”

“Kyuhyun-ah?”

“Sure, we could do that,” Jongwoon agrees, interrupting before Donghae could ask any question Kyuhyun might not want to answer. “Thanks for coming, Kyu. At least now we know that it isn’t the same spell you used. Breakfast?”

Kyuhyun smiles. “Thanks but no thanks, hyung. I’m meeting Ryeonggu for breakfast.” A pause. “Oh, and Jongwoon-hyung? If you’re going to do it, please be gentle with Donghae-hyung. Everything will feel extra-sensitive for the first few weeks so you might want to take things slow and wear protection just to be sure.”

And with that final statement, Kyuhyun walks smugly out of the bathroom, leaving sputtering Jongwoon and a confused Donghae behind.


	62. Hang in there, Jongwoon-ah

Donghae sits on the stool Jongwoon had carried out to the small balcony of his apartment, closing his eyes as he enjoys the feeling of warm sunlight and the morning breeze on his skin. He is dressed in another of Jongwoon’s larger shirts — a pale blue button-down this time — and a pair of what Jongwoon called “boxers” — bright pink with yellow bananas scattered all over it. When asked what it was for, Jongwoon had blushed and said that they were meant to cover him up and protect the thing between his legs that he apparently “needed to expel liquid waste from his human body.” Donghae had just nodded in understanding. This was probably the “protection” Kyuhyun had been talking about so he had just gone with it, allowing the still blushing Jongwoon to pull said boxers up Donghae’s legs and thighs to settle on his hips, the human’s eyes closed the entire time. This behavior Donghae found strange, hopes he could remember to ask Jongwoon about it later.

Donghae hears a pair of footsteps approach and he smiles, leans back until the back of his head touches a firm abdomen before rubbing his head against it.

“Donghae?” Jongwoon says.

He looks up to find Jongwoon looking curiously at him.

“Yes, Jongwoon?”

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, Jongwoon?”

A sigh. “Fine. Never mind.” Jongwoon says, showing him the items in his hands. “Here, I brought some scissors and a razor. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a while since I’ve cut anyone else’s hair so don’t expect too much.”

Donghae just keeps smiling at him. “Whatever cut Jongwoon gives me is okay. Hyung just usually chops everything off when things start getting tangled in my hair so I don’t really mind so much.”

“Okay. I might also have to shave a bit off the sides but let’s just deal with that later,” Jongwoon says, wrapping a spare towel around Donghae’s shoulders and getting to work.

He manages to even out the edges of the cut at the back with the scissors before he decides to shave off a bit more as well. He reaches for the razor and is about to start shaving off the hair at the base of Donghae’s head when Donghae suddenly tries to turn around, making Jongwoon nick his index finger on the razor to keep it from cutting the back of Donghae’s neck.

Jongwoon hisses a bit in pain, putting the razor aside to nurse the cut that was starting to bleed. Donghae does turn around then looking worried.

“Jongwoon? What happened?”

Jongwoon tries to smile reassuringly while hiding his injured hand. “Ah, my hand slipped. Don’t worry too much about it, Hae.”

Donghae sniffs a bit, eyes widening. “I smell blood. Jongwoon, are you bleeding?”

“Ah, well… Donghae, what are you doing?”

The former merman had taken his injured hand gently in both of his and was now staring intently at Jongwoon’s injured finger.

“Hey, Donghae. Come on, it’s not that big of a deal. Let me have my hand back so I can put a band…”

Jongwoon trails off, the words dying in his throat, as Donghae takes the injured finger into his mouth and begins to suck and lick at it in turns, the movement of his tongue palpable against Jongwoon’s fingertip. It was the single most erotic thing Jongwoon had ever seen in his life and he wonders how the hell he hadn’t fainted yet from a nosebleed.

An eternity of torture, during which Jongwoon seriously considers ignoring Kyuhyun’s advice and his better judgment and just jumping Donghae right then and there, and then the former merman is taking the finger out of his mouth and placing a gentle kiss on it.

“There. All better,” Donghae says, beaming innocently at Jongwoon. It was such a stark contrast to his previous actions that it becomes too much for Jongwoon to resist. Desire burning in his eyes, he bends down, takes Donghae’s chin in his now healed hand, and crashes their lips together.

Donghae moans into the kiss, parting his lips instinctively to allow Jongwoon entrance. Jongwoon groans and accepts the invitation, wondering if Donghae knows just how much he drives Jongwoon crazy. He’s so absorbed in exploring Donghae’s mouth that he barely registers the sound of his front door opening followed by excited yips and barks.

“Woonie? Dear, where are you? Jinnie said you were… Oh my!”

Jongwoon freezes at the familiar voice, turns around in a panic before flushing in embarrassment and wishing the earth would just swallow him whole.

“O-omma? A-appa? What are you doing here?”


	63. Son-in-law?

Jongwoon adjusts his position for the tenth time in as many minutes. He and Donghae are seated on the carpet in front of his couch, currently occupied by Jongwoon’s parents — a stern-looking man with glasses and a woman with a kind, if confused, smile on her face. They each have a Pomeranian on their lap and Jongwoon swears the black and tan one whom Donghae would later be introduced to as Kkoming has been laughing at them since they got there.

Jongwoon sighs. That… wasn’t exactly how he’d planned to introduce Donghae to his parents. Well, to be honest, he still hadn’t gotten to the part which involves explaining to his parents why his… boyfriend? soulmate?  the person he loved had a tail instead of legs so at least that was taken care of… ish. Jongwoon groans and sends up a prayer to whatever fish god that Donghae won’t turn back into a merman while his parents are here. It was already going to be difficult explaining to them why they caught him making out with a guy wearing his clothes — and underwear, his mind supplies helpfully, can’t forget about that — and why said guy had to be carried around. He clears his throat.

“So, I can exp—”

“Who are you?” Jongwoon’s father asks in a quiet voice, his gaze not leaving Donghae.

Donghae flushes, still not used to being spoken to by other humans. He looks at Jongwoon, who just nods reassuringly and takes his hand in his. Donghae nods and looks up, meeting Jongwoon’s father’s eyes, taking comfort in the fact that they were the same as Jongwoon’s.

“My name is Donghae, appa-nim,” Donghae says.

“Donghae?”

“Lee!” Jongwoon supplies. “His surname is Lee. We, uhm… he’s my…”

“Destined mate,” Donghae says without any hesitation. “And I love Jongwoon with all my hearts.”

“Hae, chagiya, you only have one heart.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Jongwoon. I had an uncle who…”

“Appa-nim? Destined mate?” Jongwoon’s father says. “What does that even mean? Explain, Jongwoon, or else…”

Jongwoon’s mother shushes her husband. “Aish, dear. Don’t be like that. See? You’re scaring poor Donghae.” A smile. “It’s good to finally meet you, Donghae-ssi. Jongjin has told us all about you.”

“What? Jongjin did?” Jongwoon clarifies, making a mental note to yell  at his younger brother later.

“Yeah. He says there’s someone in your life who has been making you happy but then that someone left so you were moping but that it was your fault anyway so we shouldn’t worry too much.”

“I was not moping,” Jongwoon protests.  “I was perfectly mature in dealing with the situation.”

“Donghwa-hyung said you kept screaming my name and apologizing while crying and waist deep in the ocean.”

Jongwoon coughs, squeezing Donghae’s hand. “Not helping, Hae,” he whispers.

“But it was sweet.”

“Enough!” Jongwoon’s father exclaims. “I… You… Jongwoon, are you really serious about this? I mean, he is pretty, and god knows what he sees in you but what about kids? Our grandchildren? He can’t give you that, that’s for sure.”

“I know, appa!” Jongwoon shouts back. “And I don’t care! I love Donghae and I won’t let something he can’t control stand in the way of that.”

Jongwoon glares at his father who glares right back, neither wanting to give in.

Jongwoon’s mother just sighs and goes to make coffee, Melo in tow. She has seen this happen too many times before and it was going to take awhile.

Donghae watches the stare-down for a while before tugging on Jongwoon’s sleeve with his free hand.

“Jongwoon…”

“…”

“Hey, Jongwoon…”

“Not now, chagiya. I’m kinda busy here defending my life choices.”

“But Jongwoon,” Donghae says insistently. “Who says I can’t give you kids?”

Both Kim men turn to look at him.

“What?”

“Donghae, you…”

Donghae blushes. “I mean, omma says it will be hard considering I’m male but we can try. I mean, how hard could it be to lay eggs, right?”

“E-eggs?” Jongwoon asks, already dreading the answer.

“Silly Jongwoon. Yes, eggs. How else do you think babies are made? Oh, but you will have to carry them in your belly until they hatch, you know that, right?”

Father and son look at each other speechless while Kkoming just turns her back on them.

Jongwoon’s mother comes back at that moment, oblivious to what just happened.

“So, coffee anyone?”


	64. Welcome to the family, I guess

Jongwoon heaves a sigh of relief when his mother and father finally leave in the late afternoon with a promise to visit again soon.

Jongwoon had managed to avoid further questions about Donghae’s ability to procreate with him by passing Donghae’s comment off as a joke, chiding him about watching too many marine life documentaries.

“But I really think we can do it if we try hard enough, Jongwoon,” Donghae presses the issue. “Omma never told me about how eggs are formed except that it can only be done with my mate but I think we can figure it out. And what are documentaries, Jongwoon? Are they as fun to watch as dramas, with kissing and all?”

Jongwoon had resorted to clasping a hand over Donghae’s mouth at that point, laughing forcefully — “See, Omma, Appa. Donghae’s a natural comedian” — can’t help thinking about how lucky Prince Eric was that Ariel wasn’t able to talk the first time she grew legs. Jongwoon tried his best to answer all other questions after that.

What work did Donghae do? He worked at the aquarium but he’s been sick for a while so he couldn’t keep that job and Jongwoon was helping him out.

Where did they meet? At the coffee shop Jongwoon works at. (“Hey, Jongwoon. Let’s go there for a date soon. I miss Wookie-ssi.”)

How old was Donghae? “33 summers old,” Donghae had replied, excited to be finally asked something he could answer.

How long have they been seeing each other? Long enough to know that they couldn’t live without each other.

What were their plans? “To mate with Jongwoon,” Donghae had said confidently before Jongwoon could answer. “He means ‘marry,’” Jongwoon clarifies, bordering on hysterics. “Definitely ‘marry.’”

Did Donghae like dogs? Better than seahorses, yes, but not more than clownfish. Clownfish were the cutest, and no he wasn’t being biased just because he was part clownfish as well. At that point, Melo had trotted up to Donghae, sniffing curiously at Donghae’s fingers before staring up at him. Donghae had stared back until finally, Melo gave a cheerful yip and rubbed her head against his hand, asking be pet. Donghae did so, running his fingers through Melo’s fur, a smile making his face even more beautiful. “So soft,” he’d whispered, scooping Melo up in a hug to rub his cheek against the top of her head. The Kim family had watched the scene in awe, Jongwoon’s mother openly cooing at the cuteness.

The air became more cheerful after that, Jongwoon’s father actually letting out a chuckle or two at something Donghae had said. By the end of their visit, Jongwoon’s parents had all but put Donghae’s name down in the family register and there was a gleam in his mother’s eyes that made Jongwoon think about that time she’d tried to change his name without his knowledge.

When the time came to say their goodbyes, Jongwoon’s mother had hugged Donghae, telling him to take care of Jongwoon.

Jongwoon’s father laughed then, saying that it should be Jongwoon who should look after Donghae, taking special care not to let Donghae hit his head lest he regain his senses and realize that he could do better Jongwoon and oh, if they could please work out that laying eggs/making babies thing.

Donghae smiles as he feels a weight settle on the couch beside him. He moves closer, laying his head on Jongwoon’s shoulder and reaching for his hand, entwining their fingers together. He can’t believe it’s barely been a day since he’s returned to Jongwoon.

Jongwoon squeezes his hand in return, rubbing his thumb against Donghae’s knuckles. “Well, that went better than expected.”

“Right. I love omma-nim and appa-nim and Melo and Kkoming though I have a feeling Kkoming doesn’t like me.”

Jongwoon laughs. “To be honest, I doubt Kkoming even likes me so you’re good.” A pause. “Hae, thank you.”

“What for, Jongwoon?”

“For coming back to me. My dad’s right. I really don’t deserve you and you can do way better than me.”

Donghae frowns, lifting his head from Jongwoon’s shoulder and looking him straight in the eye. “Jongwoon, I don’t think… In the end, it’s not a matter of who deserves who. What matters is that I love you and you make me happy just by being you.”

Jongwoon’s heart flutters at those words. “Donghae, that’s… actually romantic.”

Donghae smiles at him. “Thanks, Jongwoon. I remember watching it in a drama series. Wanna know what happened next after the lead guy said it?”

“What?”

“They kissed, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, half-lidded eyes staring at Jongwoon’s lips.

Jongwoon swallows. “Ah, of course they did. I—”

“Kiss me, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, a hand clutching at the front of the human’s shirt pulling him forward and this time, Jongwoon doesn’t resist, stops thinking about the what-ifs and what-could-have-beens and just does it, pressing his lips against Donghae’s while pushing him gently against the couch.

No words were said after that.


	65. Moment of truth

Ryeowook watches Kyuhyun quietly, a carefully neutral expression on his face. They are on yet another of their breakfast da… outings and Kyuhyun is once again avoiding the topic of his and Ryeowook's past, preferring to talk about mundane things such as the weather, the new mobile game he started playing, his grocery list for the week and did Ryeowook prefer white or red wine. (The answer is neither. Ryeowook only ever drinks what Kyuhyun offers him and precisely because of it is Kyuhyun who ask him to drink.) Ryeowook sighs, wishing he didn’t know what he knows now, that his suspicions are nothing but just that and he and Kyuhyun could continue as they were. But certain things are undeniable, couldn’t be ignored and, after much reflection, Ryeowook had decided that it would be better for the both of them if they had this conversation sooner rather than later.

"Kyu?" Ryeowook finally says, trying to get the other's attention.

"Hmm?" Kyuhyun replies, nibbling on his toast.

"Kyu, do you remember when we first met?" He asks. It was an honest question.

Kyuhyun swallows his toast, looking at Ryeowook with a calculating expression. It is one of the rare times that Ryeowook could not read what the other is thinking.

"Ah, never mi—”

"I was crying."

"What?"

"When we first met, I was crying. It was the first time Si— a friend had taken me exploring but we got separated. You found me and talked to me even if I looked… different and told me to stop crying if I didn’t want the sea monster that lives in a cave to take me away." A soft chuckle. "You gave me some candy when I didn’t and it was the sweetest thing I ever tasted until then, it made me forget to tell you that there was no sea monster, at least not within a couple of hundreds of miles.”

Ryeowook smiles sadly. It sounded like such a good memory, his and Kyuhyun's first meeting. He wishes he could actually remember… and that it actually happened.

"So we really did meet when we were kids, huh?" He asks.

"Yeah. I thought we've already established that. Ryeonggu, what…"

"So you would have been my friend at the time the merfolk attempted to take me."

"Ryeonggu, it isn't like that."

"Then what is it? I talked to my mother over the phone. She says she doesn't remember you and I playing as kids and that the Cho couple who lived in our neighborhood never had a son."

Kyuhyun freezes, a deer-in-headlights expression on his face. It is all Ryeowook needs to press on.

"You say we've known each other since we were kids but no one remembers you — not my mother, not my friends from middle school, not to mention that you seem to know things about my attempted abduction that nobody else knows." A cold glare. "So tell me… who exactly are you, Cho Kyuhyun?"

Silence, and then…

"Ryeonggu," Kyuhyun says, looking at him with a pleading expression. "Please don't make me say it…"

"Say what? That you've been pretending to be someone you're not?"

"No!" Kyuhyun says, reaching for Ryeowook's hand and holding onto it. "Not that! Never that! Ryeonggu, please believe me. I could never..."

"Stop lying. I kind of figured out already who… what you are. I just didn’t want to believe it. I mean, how else would you know what you do? What I haven't figured out yet is how you managed to get rid of your…"

"Kyuhyun-ah? Ryeowook-ssi?" A familiar voice says. "Hey, Jongwoon! Over here, look who I found!"

“Donghae, stop running. Your legs…”

_Legs?_

Ryeowook frowns, looks away from Kyuhyun then, eyes widening when he realizes what he is seeing, the final piece of the puzzle finally falling into place.


	66. Hunger

Donghae begins his walking lessons the day after Jongwoon’s parents’ visit, too busy “making out” with Jongwoon the night before to even bother doing anything else.

“‘Making out?’” Donghae had giggled the first time he heard Jongwoon say it. “What a silly expression! We’re kissing, not making something. Are we, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon had pretended not to hear him then, just sighed, scooped him into his arms, and carried him into his room.

Now Donghae finds himself holding onto said arms for support as he takes his tentative first steps. It had already taken the better part of their morning for him to learn how to stand. It felt weird at first, his body not used to the pull of gravity and the concept of having to control two lower limbs instead of one, but he slowly got the hang of it. Jongwoon had wanted to call it a day then, not wanting to strain Donghae’s muscles, but Donghae insisted that he could do more.

Donghae stumbles, of course he does, and Jongwoon catches him, almost falling down himself.

“Donghae!”

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Donghae says, straightening back up. “Let’s continue—”

“No,” Jongwoon says firmly. “You’ve done enough for today. Let’s  try again tomorrow, okay?”

So they do and each day, Donghae makes some progress until suddenly he doesn’t. It makes Jongwoon worried, wondering if they have been going too fast until he begins to notice that something isn’t right.

Jongwoon sighs when Donghae keeps tripping on his own two feet for the fifth day in a row.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon says, exasperated, as he wraps his arms around Donghae once again. “I know you can walk just fine now. You should really stop pretending to fall just to test my reflexes.”

Donghae pouts at him and straightens up. “But it gets you to hug me, Jongwoon,” he whines.

“Donghae, you know you don’t need to fall for me to hug you, right?”

“And be carried?”

Jongwoon laughs. “Now that’s just pushing it.”

“Seriously though. My legs hurt.”

Jongwoon frowns, helping Donghae over to the couch before kneeling down to inspect them. Donghae was wearing his boxers again, preferring to go around the house in them and nothing else. It was a very tempting sight.

Jongwoon sighs, trying not to linger as he runs his hands up and down Donghae’s legs in an impromptu massage to lessen the pain. It seems to be working as Donghae begins to moan, Jongwoon’s hands on his legs making him feel things not unlike the sensations he feels during his and Jongwoon’s make-out sessions, just right before Jongwoon tears himself away and practically runs to the bathroom. To do what? Well, Donghae never really got a proper answer to that question.

Jongwoon’s hand slips, presses a bit too hard on the back of his thigh and Donghae lets out another moan, spreading his legs on instinct. He looks down to see Jongwoon looking at him with an expression that was slowly growing familiar, something akin to hunger in his eyes that makes Donghae shudder.

Jongwoon sits up then, now kneeling between Donghae’s legs, one hand still resting on his thigh.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon whispers, as though in a trance. “Donghae, you’re…”

Donghae slaps him then, making him fall on his ass.

“Donghae, what the heck?”

“I’m not food!” Donghae says in a panicked voice.

Jongwoon chokes on his spit. “W-what?”

“I’m not food, Jongwoon,” Donghae repeats and it is only then that Jongwoon notices the tears in the other’s eyes. “Please don’t eat me.”

And Jongwoon is torn between gathering Donghae in his arms to comfort him and pushing him against the couch and showing him what it means to be “eaten.” Mustering all his willpower, Jongwoon chooses the former.

“Aww, Hae. Chagiya. I’m sorry. What made you even think that? I’m not going to eat you. I mean, I wasn’t going to even when you were half-fish. I wouldn’t dream of it now that you’re human.”

“Do you promise?” Donghae asks.

“I do,” Jongwoon says, brushing the tears off Donghae’s cheeks, ignoring the part of him that points out rather ironically just how _delicious_ the other looks then.

“Okay, Jongwoon,” Donghae says. “I trust you.”

Jongwoon hugs him again, whispering soothing words in the other’s ear, when suddenly, Donghae presses himself against Jongwoon, wrapping his arms around Jongwoon’s neck and his legs around Jongwoon’s waist.

Jongwoon freezes then flushes.

“Donghae, what are you doing?”

“Hugging you,” Donghae says, as though it were obvious.

“But, your legs…”

“Oh, aren’t they supposed to go here, Jongwoon?” Donghae asks, squeezing Jongwoon’s waist with his thighs to make a point, reminding Jongwoon of their position. Jongwoon screams internally and hopes Donghae doesn’t notice.

“I love you, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, thankfully oblivious to both Jongwoon’s inner turmoil and the bulge in his pants. “Let’s go on another date soon, okay?”

Jongwoon could only nod and whimper in response.


	67. Of course it has to happen now

Donghae cuddles against Jongwoon’s side, oblivious to the tension on both sides of the room as Jongwoon effortlessly belts out another rock ballad beside him. He’d somehow managed to convince Jongwoon to take him out to karaoke while roping a sullen Kyuhyun and Ryeowook into it after breakfast. It was quite obvious to everyone, even to him, that something had happened between the two but neither Donghae nor Jongwoon could figure out what it is.

Ryeowook has kept glancing at Donghae since they’d met up at the diner though, particularly at the merman’s lower half, as though he wanted to ask but was wondering if it would be appropriate. It was quite obvious and at some point, Jongwoon had placed a protective hand on Donghae’s lap, making Kyuhyun raise a brow and Donghae cling to the arm in front of him.

“Do you sing?” Jongwoon had asked Donghae while they were having dessert. He has only ever heard the merman hum and just some silly nursery rhyme or CF theme he’d picked up.

“I do,” Donghae replied, licking happily at his frozen yogurt. “Hyung says I even used to make up melodies when I was younger but would always end up crying because I’d forget them so I gave up. How about you, Jongwoon? Do you sing?”

Jongwoon, who had found himself distracted by the way Donghae was eating, blushed. “What? Ah, uhm, yes, I do, though probably not as good as you or Kyu. I mean, you merfolk—"

Jongwoon clasped a hand over his own mouth, suddenly remembering that Ryeowook didn’t know that Kyuhyun was a merman. He was surprised to see no reaction from Ryeowook at his obvious slip up. He was even more surprised when Kyuhyun just sighed and asked for the bill.

Jongwoon finishes his song and Donghae claps enthusiastically. “That was great, Jongwoon,” he fanboys. “You should be on those weekend music shows. Oh, or maybe sing an OST for a drama where the girl dies in the end. You have such a beautiful voice if a bit sad. Are you sad, Jongwoon? Why are you sad? Tell me what I can do to make you happy.”

Jongwoon coughs, eyeing their companions, a bit embarrassed. He’d never really thought about how his and Donghae’s conversations could sound to others but now, he realizes how sickly sweet they could get.

“Hae,” he says, absent-mindedly rubbing his thumb against Donghae’s knee. “It’s okay. My voice just sounds like this. I’m not sad. Why would you think that?"

He waits from a snarky remark from Kyuhyun and is surprised when he doesn't receive any. Curiouser and curiouser.

He is about to give up and ask outright about the weird tension between the two when he hears Donghae's breath hitch beside him, looks towards him to ask what is wrong only to see Donghae looking at him with half-lidded eyes, biting his lip, face flushed, and he is reminded of what had happened the day before.

Kyuhyun and Ryeowook turn to them curiously and Jongwoon blushes, practically tears his hand away. Right, Kyuhyun did say Donghae's legs would feel a bit more sensitive the first few weeks.

"What the heck? Get a room, you two!" Kyuhyun exclaims, giving them a disgusted look while Ryeowook coughs awkwardly.

"A room? But we already have one." Donghae says.

"It's an expression, Hae," Jongwoon says, resisting the urge to place his hand on Donghae's knee once again.

"So what does… woah!" Suddenly, a pink light shines and Donghae flails in panic, as though it hadn't happened several times before already, ending up with Jongwoon getting slapped by a familiar tail.

“Donghae!”

"Donghae-hyung!"

"We have to get him water!" Kyuhyun recovers first, reaching for the pitcher of iced water on the table and immediately pouring it all over Donghae's tail.

"Kyu! Too cold!" Donghae cries, clinging to Jongwoon's neck, tail still flailing, getting the still-shocked human wet as well. Jongwoon comes to his senses and wraps his arms around Donghae, whispering soothing words in his ear.

"Hae. Chagi. Stop moving too much. We need to get you out of here and into some water."

“But where, hyung? I didn’t bring the van so…”

"There's a love hotel nearby," Ryeowook interrupts Kyuhyun and everyone looks at him.

"What? They're bound to at least have a shower, if not a water-themed room."

The staring continues until Donghae starts breathing heavily. That springs Jongwoon into action. He reaches for the table cloth and pulls, sending glasses and bottles tumbling off and onto the carpet, wraps the table cloth around Donghae's waist. He then scoops Donghae up and says, "I guess we have no choice. Lead the way, Ryeowook-ssi."

—

Heechul smiles widely, hands in the pockets of his long red coat as he looks at the man beside him. Somehow, Jungsoo finally gave in and agreed to go out on a date with him.

"An outing," Jungsoo had corrected him with a glare. "Don’t think this means I have forgiven you."

Heechul just winked at him in response.

That was a week ago and now they were walking through an alley on the way to a nearby park. Jungsoo had always liked watching dogs being taken on walks by their owners, having always wanted one for himself but having had neither the time nor the will to get one. Heechul had planned to do something about that by the end of their date, even if it would mean living on instant ramen for the rest of the year. That lunch they had at a posh Italian restaurant had already set him back a couple of months but it was well worth it to get an almost-smile from Jungsoo.

Jungsoo had been silent ever since they'd left the restaurant, lost in thought, and Heechul wonders if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Suddenly, three men come running into the alley, one of them carrying another, a table cloth wrapped around the figure's waist and legs. The men almost barrel into them in their rush and Heechul manages to reach out a hand to pull Jungsoo out of the way and towards him just in time. Jungsoo freezes against him in shock, but Heechul doesn't notice, is already shouting curses at the men who almost ran over his Jungsoo. The shortest one looks back and bows in apology before hurrying after the other two. They turn a corner and Heechul gets a glimpse of the one carrying  someone.

"Jongwoon!" He exclaims. "Jungsoo-ah, that was Jongwoon wasn't it?" He turns to Jungsoo to find him still with a shocked expression.

"Jungsoo-ah? Hey, what's—”

"Tail," Jungsoo says, almost in a trance.

"What?"

"Tail," Jungsoo repeats and says the last thing Heechul would have expected. "That person Jongwoon-ssi was carrying. He had a tail, Heechul-ah."


	68. Candyland

Jongwoon adjusts his hold on Donghae as he watches Ryeowook talk to the girl at the counter. They agreed to get two rooms as Kyuhyun had suggested so that it would look less suspicious. A group coming in and asking if they had a water-themed room was already bound to raise some eyebrows, what more if said group of people asked for one room. Ryeowook doubted very much that the people who ran the place would barely batt an eye at their requirement but it would be too much of a hassle to argue about it, especially with how their last conversation ended.

Kyuhyun looks around wide-eyed — considering his dedication to Ryeowook, this probably was the first time he’s been in a love hotel — and Jongwoon makes a mental note to tease his co-worker about it later. He checks on Donghae again, trying not to act too worried. If anyone asks, they had decided to say that Donghae had just passed out from having too much to drink.

Thankfully nobody does and Ryeowook leads the way to their rooms. They enter the first one and are immediately blinded by all the pink they see. The word “Candyland” is spelled out in gold letters on a bright pink wall behind a pastel pink water bed with fluffy hearts and candy cane-shaped pillows scattered all over the bed. They barely notice the bathroom door which is covered in tacky pink glitter-paper with random stickers on it.

Jongwoon moves past a speechless Kyuhyun and Ryeowook and makes for said door, totally oblivious to his surroundings, his mind focused on getting Donghae’s tail wet.

Thankfully, this room has a normal tub and Jongwoon quickly places Donghae in it and turns on the tap. He then takes the nearby shower-head and directs a stream of water towards Donghae’s chest and upper arms.

“Go lower,” Kyuhyun instructs behind him. “Around the part where the skin meets scales.” A pause. “And the hole area too, if you know where to find it.”

Jongwoon chokes on his own spit. “T-the hole?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re Donghae-hyung’s destined mate. It’s impossible that you’ve never talked about basic anatomical differences between humans and merfolk.”

Jongwoon coughs. No. It wasn’t impossible. Everything Jongwoon knows about mer-anatomy, he’s had to discover on his own, at the expense of a couple of thousands of braincells.

He does as he’s told, though, and he could practically feel Kyuhyun’s knowing smirk when he manages to direct the stream towards the correct area. Thankfully the tub becomes half-filled by then. Donghae squirms and Jongwoon gets in, clothes and all, to hold him against his chest.

“Shh, chagi. I’m here. You’re okay. We’re okay. Okay?”

Donghae’s eyes flutter open and Jongwoon lets out a sigh of relief.

“Jongwoon? Where are we? Why is everything pink?”

Jongwoon laughs uncomfortably. “We’re at a love hotel, Hae-ah. I swear I don’t mean anything by it. It was just the closest one to the karaoke place and I—”

“A love hotel? What’s a love hotel, Jongwoon? And why is the world still spinning?”

“Donghae-hyung,” Kyuhyun butts in, saving Jongwoon from further embarrassment. “You suddenly turned back into a merman. Do you remember feeling anything when it happened?”

Donghae peers curiously up at him from where he was nuzzled against Jongwoon’s chest. “Kyu? No, I don’t. I just remember feeling something weird when Jongwoon touched my knee, almost as if I was burning and…”

Jongwoon coughs yet again. “Uhm, Hae, I don’t think that was what Kyuhyun-ah was going for.” He also looks up at Kyuhyun and says, “We’ve already established that it’s not triggered by touch, right?”

Kyuhyun shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s too early to tell. I just…”

“Kyu.”

Kyuhyun freezes when he hears Ryeowook say his name. It was the first word the other had said to him since they were interrupted this morning.

“Y-yes, Ryeonggu?”

“Let Donghae-hyung rest. Let’s leave him and Jongwoon-hyung alone for now, okay?”

And there is something in Ryeowook’s voice that sounded strange. Kyuhyun forces a smile and nods.

“Okay. I guess we’ll be leaving for now, Jongwoon-hyung, Donghae-hyung. We’ll see you later.”

And with that, Kyuhyun follows Ryeowook out of the bathroom, leaving Jongwoon to wonder just what the hell was really going on.


	69. If you wanted to get me into a love hotel, you should’ve just asked, Jungsoo-ah

Jungsoo sighs as he peers through the slightly open door of their room. He and Heechul had followed Jongwoon and his friends, only to end up in, of all places, a love hotel. Seriously, just what was has Jongjin’s brother gotten himself into this time.

“I don’t know why you’re so worried, Jungsoo-ah,” Heechul says from where Jungsoo had handcuffed one of his hands to the bed after he’d tried to stop the manager from spying on the room opposite theirs… with his lips. “So the guy has some weird mermaid fetish. You’re not one to judge. You have me tied up in some Hello Kitty bondage gear for crying out loud.”

Jungsoo sighs, annoyed. “How many times should I tell you, Heechul-ssi. Jongwoon-ssi is Jongjin-ssi’s brother. Any reckless action on his part might reflect badly on Jongjin-ssi. Now shut up before I gag you.”

“Ooooooh, kinky. You really have changed, Jungsoo-ah. Ah, my sweet Jungsoo. How pure and innocent you were when we first— mmph!”

Heechul’s eyes widen as Jungsoo cuffs his other hand to the bed and ties a gag around his mouth before going back to his stakeout. Seriously, Jungsoo in full work-mode is actually scary even for someone like Heechul who intimidates people for a living.

Heechul watches Jungsoo crouch before the door. In his neat white suit and leather shoes, Jungsoo looked very much out of place against the tacky room décor.

Heechul wonders how he’d even gotten Jungsoo to go out with him all those years back. And they were happy, at least until Heechul fucked up and made his Jungsoo hate him.

Things had been getting better though. He’s been apologizing for almost ten years now, surely that would have counted for something. And today’s date… ah, he was actually looking forward to getting Jungsoo some cutesy dog like a toy poodle. They’d name her some weird name-squish like ChulSoo and agree to take turns watching her. That way, Heechul would’ve had an excuse to see Jungsoo at least three times a week. Now though…

Heechul growls. Jongwoon damned well be getting some quality mermaid roleplay action right now or else Heechul won’t be as merciful the next time the younger man asks for a favor. How exactly mermaid roleplay works though, Heechul never really thought of finding out.

They sit in silence, forced on Heechul’s part, as the door in front of theirs doesn’t budge even once after the two others left. Half and hour and a butt cramp later and finally, Jungsoo breaks it by asking, “Heechul-ssi, it’s been an hour and a half. What on earth do you think they’re doing in there?”

Heechul raises a brow and Jungsoo flushes, goes to remove the gag.

“Oh, so you want my opinion now, huh?” Heechul sasses, still a bit annoyed at being restrained and not in a fun way.

Jungsoo is not impressed. “Well, I asked, didn’t I?”

Heechul rolls his eyes. “I don’t know how mermaid roleplay works exactly but they should be sleeping by now.” A pause. “Unless Jongwoon has a monstrous energy to go with that dick of his.”

Jungsoo frowns. “I knew it. You really were lying when you said you haven’t slept with anyone else since I caught you cheating on me.”

“What? With whom? Jongwoon? Jungsoo, no! What the hell! The kid’s practically my brother at this point. Why won’t you believe me?”

Jungsoo just looks at him coolly. “I did once and look where that got me.”

That shuts Heechul up.

“But we’re not here to talk about us,” Jungsoo says, effectively putting an end to the issue. “I’m going to go see if they have room service. Do you want anything?”

“You,” Heechul says without thinking, catches himself. “I mean, soju. Lots of it.”

Jungsoo gives him a strange look before picking up the phone beside the bed.

It seems like it is going to be a long night.


	70. Too much yaoi manga is not good for Jongwoon’s health 🔥

Jongwoon watches Kyuhyun’s and Ryeowook’s retreating backs worriedly. The two of them really have been acting strange and if it were indeed a fight, Jongwoon isn’t even sure who started it.

“Jongwoon?” Donghae calls his name again and Jongwoon looks back down at the merman worriedly.

“What is it, Hae? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you need more water?”

Donghae shakes his head. “No, I’m okay. I can breathe easier now but Jongwoon, I think I tore your pants when I transformed. I’m sorry, Jongwoon.”

Jongwoon laughs. “Is that all? Well, we were supposed to buy you clothes today anyway. But yeah, we’d have to figure out something so we can get you home.”

“Kiss me,” Donghae says.

Jongwoon blinks at the request.

“Suddenly?”

“It worked the first time.”

Jongwoon smiles. “Donghae, how many times should I tell you you don’t need an excuse to— mmph.”

Donghae surprises Jongwoon by pulling him close by his collar and crashing their lips together. Jongwoon flounders for a bit but manages to recover, allowing himself to get pulled into the now familiar rhythm.

A pink light flashes and Jongwoon feels legs straddle his lap as Donghae draws himself closer, surprising Jongwoon when he starts sucking at the other’s tongue in his mouth. Jongwoon moans at the sensation, a part of him wondering how and where the merman learned all these, until Donghae moves in closer and Jongwoon suddenly realizes their position when he feels the other’s bare ass rub against his already half-hard member. He panics and pulls away.

“Donghae, wait! We…”

“Senpai~”

Jongwoon gulps. Donghae had never addressed him with any honorific before and to be addressed with one and in a different language… If Jongwoon were being honest, it was actually a bit of a turn on, even if it were a bit too much like... Jongwoon’s eyes widen. Of course! Donghae must’ve been reading one of Heechul’s yaoi manga again. Jongwoon curses. He really should’ve made time to burn those damned things.

“Jongwoon-senpai,” Donghae repeats and Jongwoon looks down at the merman’s half-lidded eyes and glistening red lips, mesmerized. He raises a hand to place it on Donghae’s waist and moves in to capture his lips again… only to sneeze right into a surprised Donghae’s face.

He is horrified.

“Oh my god, Hae, I’m so sorry.” Sneeze. “I’m…” He shivers. “I think I’ve stayed in the water a bit longer than I’m used to.”

“So you don’t like water?” Donghae pouts at him, sitting back and Jongwoon suppresses a groan at exactly where he sits.

“It’s not like that,” Jongwoon says, smiling awkwardly while trying to think of less pleasant things than Donghae’s ass on his dick.

“Are you sure? You’re looking funny again, Jongwoon.” He raises a hand to feel Jongwoon’s forehead. “And hot.”

“Uhm, yeah. I think I’m coming down with something. I really shouldn’t have jumped in here with my clothes on.”

“You really shouldn’t have,” Donghae agrees. “Those people in the manga don’t wear any clothes when they play this game. Here, let me help.” And suddenly, Jongwoon feels slender fingers start working on the buttons of his shirt and looks down to see a Donghae with an adorable expression of full concentration. It becomes too much for Jongwoon who practically pushes Donghae away and scrambles out of the tub.

“Jongwoon, where are you going?” Donghae calls out to him, confused.

“I’m going to go get… Towels! Yes, towels! And bathrobes! Just… stay right there!” And with that, Jongwoon runs awkwardly from the room, hoping his soaking wet shirt is enough to hide the very obvious bulge in his pants.

He comes back a couple of minutes later considerably calmer,  armed with a couple of towels and no bath robe. The closet had some clothes though and he’d picked the tamest one — a male high school uniform — to put on while he let his clothes dry. He’d tried to find one for Donghae but there were barely any in his size so towels it were.

He comes back to Donghae casually sitting naked at the the side of the tub, splashing his feet in the water, dripping wet shirt held carefully in his hands. Jongwoon’s eyes trail down Donghae’s back appreciatively in spite of himself, down toned muscles, a narrow waist, and was that a dimple on Donghae’s— Jongwoon snaps his gaze away forcefully and slaps himself blushing furiously, rushes forward to wrap Donghae in a fluffy towel and carries him out of the bathroom, forestalling all other sinful thoughts.

Donghae beams up at him until Jongwoon finally puts him down on the water bed, bones creaking as he stands back up.

“Handsome,” Donghae says suddenly.

“What?”

“Jongwoon is handsome in that clothing,” Donghae says in wonder. “Like all those manga princes.”

Jongwoon coughs, not used to receiving compliments, especially not from beautiful people like Donghae. “Uhm, yeah. I got it from that closet over there.”

“Really? Let me see!” Donghae’s eyes shine in excitement as he tosses his wet shirt to the floor, shrugs off his towel and skips to the closet, opening it with a flourish and starting to go through its contents.

Jongwoon is blinded momentarily by the flash of bare skin before the horror sets in when he remembers what that closet contains.

“No! Wait, Hae! I don’t think… Nothing in there fits you, I already checked!”

“Oh?” Donghae says. “But this one does. See?”

And Jongwoon almost dies from blood loss when Donghae emerges holding, of all things, a pink schoolgirl uniform against his chest.


	71. “Hurting”

Jongwoon sighs as Donghae bounces around on the bed behind him, giggling childishly and rolling around, crinkling the male school uniform Jongwoon had taken off to let him wear. It seemed like a good idea at the time — Jongwoon isn’t sure what he would’ve done if he’d seen Donghae in that schoolgirl uniform with Donghae’s softly whispered “ _Senpai_ ” still running through his head — but now…

“Jongwoon! This is so bouncy! You say it’s filled with water? Amazing! Let’s get one at home. Can we get one, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon sighs and adjusts the hem of the bright pink skirt he is wearing, pulling it as low as it could go, fixes his expression before turning around.

He almost falls off the bed when he suddenly finds himself almost nose-to-nose with Donghae.

“Donghae, what—”

And Donghae reaches up to place something on Jongwoon’s head before his eyes curve up in a smile and he tackles Jongwoon onto the bed.

“Cute! Jongwoon bunny is so cute!” Donghae gushes while crushing Jongwoon’s face against his chest.

“Hae! Wait! Can’t… breathe…” Jongwoon protests as he is smothered against the merman’s impressive chest.

Donghae doesn’t hear him and continues the squishing. In desperation, Jongwoon reaches his hands up to poke at the merman’s sides.

“Ah,” Donghae yelps as Jongwoon begins to tickle his sides, releasing his hold on the human’s neck to reach for his hands. “Stop! No! Not there! Stop the tickles! Ahhhh!”

Jongwoon smirks, knowing he has the upper hand now, captures one of Donghae’s wrists and pins it to the bed. Interestingly, Donghae lets him even if it would’ve been so easy to break free if he wants to. Jongwoon looks down to take in the other’s flushed cheeks and pretty pink lips parted slightly as he catches his breath. Jongwoon feels himself stir once again and he makes himself pull away and lie beside Donghae instead before the temptation gets to him.

“Jongwoon?” Donghae sits up to peer at him, worried. “Are you okay?”

Jongwoon smiles in what he hopes is a reassuring manner.

“Yeah. Just got a little bit dizzy, probably from moving too fast. I’m sorry but can we just sleep for now?”

Donghae still looks worried but seems to decide not to force the issue, lies back down, this time pillowing his head on Jongwoon’s chest and throwing an arm and a leg over him. “Okay, Jongwoon. We can sleep. Let’s just continue playing when we wake up, okay?”

 “Sure. Okay,” Jongwoon agrees, reaches up to run a hand through Donghae’s hair as he tries to calm himself down. “We can do anything my Donghae wants.” He then reaches for the remote to turn off the lights.

“Good night, chagiya.”

All Jongwoon gets in response is a soft snore.

—

Jongwoon’s eyes snap open as he finds himself gasping for breath. Turtles. He’d dreamt of so many baby turtles with fish tails swimming in their tub at home and Donghae cooing at what were apparently their “babies” while asking for a kiss because apparently kisses made weird turtle-fish hybrids. Jongwoon shudders, makes a mental note to lay off the kisses for a while just in case it were true. He sighs, reaching for his phone, miraculously still working in spite of being soaked when he feels something brush against his dick. A heartbeat and he realizes that they had shifted during the night and Jongwoon suppresses a groan when Donghae moves again, the merman’s thigh brushing against him. Another brush and Jongwoon loses it, quickly gets out of bed and rushes to the bathroom. When he gets there, he looks down at the tent in the skirt he is wearing, scowling at it. He remembers the feeling of Donghae’s ass rubbing against it earlier that night and decides to literally just fuck it and reaches under the skirt to take himself in his hand and begins jacking off. He is too absorbed in his activity that he doesn’t hear the sound of the door opening.

“Jongwoon, what are you doing?”

Jongwoon freezes, whips his hand away from his dick. “Uhm… I am… shower! Yeah! I’m going to have a shower so…

“Oh, a shower?” Donghae says, blinking sleepily at him. Some of the buttons in his chest area have popped off during the night and Jongwoon whimpers as his member twitches in interest.

A rustle of clothes and Jongwoon looks up to see Donghae stepping out of his pants and starting to shrug off his already unbuttoned shirt.

“Donghae, what are _you_ doing?” Jongwoon makes himself ask against the sudden dryness of his throat.

Donghae smiles at him. “Why joining you, of course. You’ve never let me shower with you since I became human.” A pout. “By the way, is your thing okay, Jongwoon. It hasn’t gone down since I walked in here. Is it really supposed to do that? Does it hurt? Can I help? How can I make it stop hurting? Hey, Jongwoon! Don’t step into the shower in your clothes! You’ll really get sick this time. Jongwoon, are you listening to me?”

Jongwoon ignores Donghae as he continues to fret over him as well as all the suggestions his brain comes up with on how Donghae could “help” with the “hurting.” He turns the shower on to its coldest setting and just waits for the “hurting” to stop.


	72. Help 🔞🔞🔞

The water is freezing as Jongwoon concentrates on the list of unsexy things he’d come up with specially for these occasions — his steadily increasing water bill, his old boss, a pack of rotten cheese he’d once found in his refrigerator, Heechul in a clown costume… He gets as far as delayed rental payments when he suddenly feels slender fingers starting to work on the buttons of his shirt. He hadn’t noticed nor heard Donghae slip into the shower in front of him, is about to pull away when Donghae stops unbuttoning his shirt to pull Jongwoon against him, resting the human’s head against his shoulder.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says in a voice that sounds strangely soothing to Jongwoon. “It’s okay. I know why you’re like that and I think it’s my fault.”

Jongwoon’s head snaps up. “Y-you do?” A pause. “It is?”

Donghae nods.

“It’s a curse.”

Jongwoon blinks. “A what now?”

“You’ve been cursed Jongwoon, probably by a suc— succ— weird female demon thing with a snake tail because you rejected her in a previous life and the only cure is if you make babies with your one true love but Jongwoon, I still don’t know how to make babies with you so I’m sorry, Jongwoon. This is all my fault.”

Jongwoon’s mind, which had blanked by the time Donghae had gotten to “weird female demon thing” startles when he sees the tears that had begun to fall down the merman’s cheeks.

“Aww, Hae,” Jongwoon says, reaching up to wipe the falling tears. “That’s not… Not everything you read in manga has to be real, you know?”

“But Jongwoon, I have to give you babies now or else you’ll DIE.”

_What the fuck._ Jongwoon makes a mental note to have a talk with Heechul on the types of manga he leaves lying around.

Jongwoon gathers Donghae in his arms and places gentle kisses on the top of his head. “Shh, Hae. It’s okay. That’s just a manga. It’s not real. No one’s going to die. And we’ve been over this before — you can’t give me babies. It’s… nngh.” And Jongwoon trails off, lets out a moan when without warning, Donghae slips a hand underneath the skirt Jongwoon is wearing and grabs at his dick.

“D-donghae,” Jongwoon says desperately, trying not to do anything drastic like cum. “W-what are you doing?”

“Helping,” Donghae says still with tears in his eyes. “I don’t know. Something tells me that this would help. Is it working, Jongwoon?”

“Hae… nngh,” A squeeze, another moan. “Hae, chagiya, please stop. I don’t think I’d be able to control myself if… nngh…” A stroke. “Donghae…”

Donghae continues stroking Jongwoon, making the human groan and hide his face against the merman’s neck, the part of him that somehow still wanted to protect, didn’t want to take advantage of Donghae’s “innocence” trying to put up a fight. That is, until he feels Donghae breathe hitch and his movements falter.

He hears Donghae say his name in a breathless tone and Jongwoon looks up to find the merman looking at him with a flushed face and half-lidded eyes. “That sound… your voice… Jongwoon, I feel...”

“W-what is it, Hae-ah? What do you mean?” Jongwoon asks, leaning close so that their lips are just a hairsbreadth away, desperately clinging to the last bit of his self control. It goes out the window and throws itself over the bridge when Donghae turns golden eyes to him and says in a needy voice, “My thing, Jongwoon. I think it’s beginning to hurt too.”


	73. Too Much? 🔥🔥🔥🔞🔞🔞

Jongwoon is not sure what comes over him at those words but the next thing either of them know, he is pushing Donghae roughly against the shower wall, ignoring the freezing water falling around them, and kissing him hungrily, as though it were the one thing he’d wanted to do for such a long time. And maybe it was. Maybe Jongwoon has finally gotten tired of holding back, of being the “responsible one” because, though it is true that Donghae is just getting used to being human and what it entailed, it is equally true that the merman wanted him — he could feel the evidence brushing against his thigh — and who could blame him for giving in when Donghae looks at him like that.

So he kisses the merman like he’s never kissed anyone before, sucking and nibbling on Donghae’s lower lip, making the merman part his lips in a moan, allowing Jongwoon to slip his tongue in. 

Donghae moans at the feeling of Jongwoon’s tongue against his, lets go of Jongwoon’s dick to wrap both arms around his neck, deepening the kiss by sucking on the tongue in his mouth. Jongwoon groans, a hand wandering down Donghae’s side until it reaches a firm buttock. He squeezes and Donghae groans around their kiss, pulling him impossibly closer and into the space between his legs, making the merman’s  member rub against Jongwoon’s skirt-covered dick. They both moan at the contact and Jongwoon finally breaks their kiss to rest his forehead against Donghae’s, breath mingling with each other.

“Donghae,” Jongwoon says. “This… What we’re about to do… Do you really want it? I can… stop… if you…”

Donghae shakes his head, opens his eyes that had fallen close to reveal golden eyes clouded with desire. “Jongwoon… please…” he says. “It hurts… here…” A thrust, making Jongwoon’s breath hitch. “And here,” he continues, reaching for Jongwoon’s hand on his hip and bringing it to his butt cheek and lower. Jongwoon swallows when his fingers brush against the merman’s entrance.

“Please, Jongwoon,” Donghae repeats. “The hurting… Make it stop.”

And there is something about the way Donghae whispers his name then that pushes Jongwoon into action, capturing Donghae’s lips in a bruising kiss before moving to his neck, sucking and nibbling, his hands moving from Donghae’s buttocks down his thighs. Donghae follows Jongwoon’s lead, jumps up to wrap his legs around Jongwoon’s waist, Jongwoon adjusting his grip to support him against the shower wall.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae moans as the human trails gentle kisses from his neck down his chest until he reaches a stiff nipple, blowing softly against it, making the merman squirm before taking it between his teeth, biting lightly. Donghae practically mewls at that, member twitching as Jongwoon begins to suck, holding him steady against his chest.

“Jongwoon, what… there’s… nothing’s going to come out from there. Why are you… Jongwoon…” He trails off when Jongwoon lets go of the nipple in his mouth and does the same to the other, rolling it in his mouth while his hands move south once again. Donghae moans when he feels a finger circle his entrance, the sensation foreign and yet, for some reason, feeling strangely right. A vicious suck on his nipple and Donghae bucks against Jongwoon, the water continuously falling around them causing said finger to slip into his already twitching hole. Jongwoon moans against the nipple in his mouth at the unbearable tightness, almost loses it at the thought of that tightness surrounding his dick.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae moans, bucking against him, fingers digging into the human’s shoulders. “Please, Jongwoon.”

This spurs Jongwoon on. He lets go of the nipple and returns to Donghae’s mouth, pinning the merman against the wall to push his skirt aside and align their members.

“Donghae, chagi,” Jongwoon whispers against Donghae’s mouth. “I love you,” before capturing his mouth once again and, steadying his grip, begins to thrust against him.

Donghae mewls and throws his head back as he feels Jongwoon’s member move against his own with each thrust, pushing him back against the fingers still in his ass.

“Jongwoon… Jongwoon… Please… Don’t stop,” Donghae cries into their kiss as the thrusts become more intense and desperate, pushing him further until Jongwoon’s fingers reach something inside that makes him almost pass out in pleasure, pushes him over the edge. Jongwoon follows not too far behind with a strangled cry, Donghae’s name also on his lips.

They stay that way for a moment, leaning against each other trying to catch their breath as the water begins washing away the proof of their desire when a familiar pink light flashes and Jongwoon is surprised to not find himself with a handful of merman tail.

Donghae murmurs sleepily against Jongwoon’s neck and Jongwoon forgets about the pink light, smiles, adjusts his grip before stepping out of the shower, struggling to turn it off before shrugging out of wet clothing with the other clinging bodily to him. He then reaches for a towel and wraps it around them before slowly walking back to the bedroom.

They are asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow, totally oblivious to the faint pink glow that continues to surround them throughout the remainder of the night.


	74. I had to

Kyuhyun shifts uncomfortably on the soft pink silk sheets of the clam-shaped bed he finds himself sitting on, feeling like the universe was laughing at him. Of all the themed rooms he and Ryeowook could get, it just had to be the under-the-sea themed one. Ryeowook had been standing in front of him since they got there silently watching him and Kyuhyun hates it that he couldn’t read what goes on in his Destined Mate’s mind.

It feels like an eternity before Ryeowook sighs.

“Ah, I think I get it now,” he says in a detached tone. “You’re a merman, correct?”

Kyuhyun’s heart hurts at the cold treatment but he nods, not daring to look at Ryeowook.

“And based on what you seem to know, the same merman who tried to take me away?”

This makes Kyuhyun look up.

“I did not…” he begins to plead before cutting himself off and looking back down. “Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

Kyuhyun looks back up, surprised. “Kyuhyun.” A soft smile. “It is the name you gave me.”

"I… gave it to you? You didn’t have one before?"

Kyuhyun nods. "Yes. It was the first time I've been given a name."

"What did they call you before?"

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. "Egg 13."

"What?"

"I know. It sounds like some shady SNS handle or gamer name but well, we merfolk are hatched from eggs and my parents weren't around long enough to name me."

Ryeowook looks incredulously at him before shaking his head. "Where are you from?"

Kyuhyun frowns. "The sea?"

"How did you find me?"

"I already told you. It was you who found me that first time. And the second time, after… in that coffee shop. It was by pure luck. Please believe me.”

"Why did you try to take me away?"

"I didn't… I'm sorry but I cannot tell you."

"Why?"

“…”

"Do you hate me that much?"

"What?"

"Do you hate me that much, Kyu, that you would pretend to be my friend, to be someone I could trust when all this time, all you actually want to do is to take me to the sea and what? Drown me? Eat me? Sacrifice me for some weird merfolk ritual that would give you eternal youth?"

"Ryeonggu, no! You don't understand…"

"Then make me understand, goddamnit!" Ryeowook shouts, surprising the both of them. "You hiding things from me actually hurts me more than the thought of you almost killing me and…"

"I love you!"

That makes Ryeowook pause. "What?"

"I love you," Kyuhyun repeats, even as he starts glowing with a red light. "I've only ever loved you, Ryeonggu. You are my Destined Mate. I had to keep… pro… sta…"

Kyuhyun's eyes widen, his mouth moving even as the words wouldn't come out. The red light starts growing brighter, starting with his throat and spreading down his body. A flash and Ryeowook lets out a gasp as Kyuhyun's legs start disappearing right before his very eyes.


	75. Now that's convenient

Jongwoon wakes up to a weird sense of déjà vu and a comforting weight on top of him. The one pinning him to the bed whispers something against his neck in his sleep and Jongwoon smiles, raising a hand to run it over the fine hairs at the base of Donghae's neck, adjusting his other hand’s grip on the merman's waist to stop his squirming before little Jongwoon takes it as a sign of him wanting a repeat of last night.

Last night… was really something. Who would have thought the first time they'd actually end up doing it, it would be in the bathroom of a love hotel? Jongwoon blushes at the memory, wondering if he'd done too much for Donghae's first time, when he feels something wet and slimy brushing against his bare legs. His eyes snap open in alarm and he looks down to find that Donghae had, yet again, transformed into his mer form.

“Donghae!” he says, trying to coax the other awake, almost on the verge of a panic attack. "Donghae! Your tail…"

Donghae raises his head from where it is nestled against Jongwoon's neck and looks at him through sleepy eyes. "Jongwoon? What's going on? Is it morning? Can we sleep more? I'm just so tired."

"Hae, no! Don't go back to sleep. I have to get you to the tub before your tail…"

"Oh," Donghae blinks, before shrugging and settling back down against Jongwoon's chest. A pink light flashes and Jongwoon feels human legs now intertwined with his own.

Jongwoon blinks. "What? Donghae, you…"

"Yup." A yawn. "I don't know how but I can change forms now, as long as I think about it hard enough." A pause. "Hey, Jongwoon. Your thing… it’s standing up again.”

Jongwoon groans. In his panic, he hadn't noticed that all the squirming and the wriggling managed to make him half hard, is about to protest when a pink light flashes again and he finds Donghae on top of him, looking at him through half-lidded eyes, tail between his legs.

"Jongwoon, did you want to do what we did last night in this form?"

Jongwoon’s mind blanks even as his member twitches in interest.

What the actual fuck?

"No!” he practically screams in denial. “Hell no! What the fuck? I don't… How will that even… Hae, chagi, please turn back! Now!"

"But it's not going down," Donghae says, moving against him to make a point. "Jongwoon, it's okay. I think I still can…"

Suddenly, their door is thrown open, startling them both.

"Jongwoon-hyung! Donghae-hyung! Kyu is… Kyu… what the hell?"

Jongwoon and Donghae just blink at a stupefied Ryeowook before Jongwoon regains his senses and pulls the blanket properly over them while Donghae changes back to his human form.

"Ryeowook-ssi," Jongwoon says when everything settles down. "What happened?"

Ryeowook shakes his head, trying to purge the image of what he just saw out of his brain, forces himself to focus.

"Kyu," he repeats. "We talked and then there was this freaky red light and Kyu lost his voice and changed into a merman and now he's not waking up. Oh god, what should I do, hyung? Is it my fault? Please. I need your help."

"What? So did he tell you…" Jongwoon stops. "Anyway, just give us time to get dressed. We'll be right there."


	76. To protect

Everything hurts.

Kyuhyun whimpers, stifling a cry at the pain of what feels like a thousand needles piercing through his scales. He knows he passed out at some point after his forced transformation, though he’s not quite sure if it was from the pain or from his tail beginning to dry out. His tail... It seems surreal, after having spent so many years — more than half his life now — as a human to suddenly have one again.

He’d never thought this would happen — he was just supposed to lose his voice — but he really should’ve expected it. Transformation spells were taboo for a reason and not just because they almost always ended with the mer dying of a broken heart.

He hears movement near him and he extends his awareness beyond the pain in his body to his surroundings, is surprised to find himself submerged in water. Water! But how… His heart leaps at the thought of Ryeowook still caring enough not to let him dry out, wonders how Ryeowook was able to carry him when the weight of his tail alone could’ve crushed the human. He hears a couple more voices and sighs.

Ah, Kyuhyun thinks, strangely disappointed. He’d gone for help after all. He kind of liked the idea of his Ryeonggu who didn’t like doing physical labor struggling to carry him to the tub while dragging his tail on the floor and cursing him out for making him do it. It would’ve been a good last memory even if he eventually turned to sea foam like in the legend.

Someone slips into the tub with him and he forces himself to open his eyes as unfamiliar hands start checking his gills.

“He’s okay,” the person was saying. “Wookie-ssi got him to the tub just in time.”

Kyuhyun frowns, raises a hand weakly in protest, reaching for the hand and trying to say “stop”, only for it to come out as a series of clicks and whistles. Kyuhyun frowns.

He gets a series of clicks and whistles back.

_Shh, Kyu. You’re okay,_ it said. _Wookie-ssi took care of you well. But, Kyu, why are you using fishspeak?_

He was?

Kyuhyun  opens his eyes to find three worried pairs of eyes looking at him.

“Kyuhyun-ah!

“Kyu! I’m so glad. I thought you… How are you feeling?”

He tries again to speak only to get confused looks from the two humans.

“He says, ‘hello, guys,’” Donghae translates, climbing out of the tub and stepping into the towel Jongwoon was holding open for him. “Oh, and something about feeling like he’s being torn open from the inside but maybe I’m wrong. It’s been a while since I’ve used fishspeak.”

“Fish… speak?”

“Yup,” Donghae nods. “It might sound weird to you but it’s actually easier to use when you’re underwater. I just don’t know why Kyu’s using it now.”

“Well,” Jongwoon says, eyes on Ryeowook who looks torn between taking Kyuhyun’s hand and running away. “Maybe that’s something Kyuhyun would like to talk to Ryeowook-ssi about.”

“Oh? But how will they talk, Jongwoon? Does Wookie-ssi know fishspeak? Wow, that’s awesome. Jongwoon, maybe I should teach you for when I bring you to meet Omma and my Hyung.”

Meet? But they were… and he was… Jongwoon sighs. He could worry about that later. For now, they should focus on getting Kyuhyun out of there as it didn’t seem like he would be turning back anytime soon. He takes Donghae’s hand and gives it a squeeze and a tug.

“Come on, Hae,” he says, leading Donghae out the bathroom. “Let’s give them time to talk. Why don’t we go see what they have for breakfast?”

—

Ryeowook stares at Kyuhyun, taking in what was, apparently, his true form. He'd wanted so much to be proved wrong, wanted Kyuhyun to come up with some believable explanation that didn't involve this but in the end…

"I love you!" Kyuhyun had said before his voice had gone out. "I've only ever loved you, Ryeonggu."

Honestly, Ryeowook didn't know how to feel about that. He'd always considered himself to be a logical person and the way his heart had skipped a beat at the declaration, well, that didn't make the slightest bit of sense considering what he knew. Kyuhyun had been a friend before this entire mess, before something Kyuhyun had said had made him start digging into their past, his best friend even but never did he consider things between them as anything but platonic. No matter what people around them would think or say or insinuate. Kyu was Kyu. He was just… there and yet now…

Destined mates. Ryeowook tries to consider the possibility of this being true. After all, it seemed like one of the things Kyuhyun wanted to tell him at any cost.

Destined mates.

What did that even mean? His mind automatically goes to Jongwoon and Donghae and shudders. No way were he and Kyuhyun going to suddenly turn into that kind of stupid couple, right?

Kyuhyun shifts and Ryeowook's eyes are drawn to the other's tail, glistening scales a beautiful pearl blue, the same color as the scale he kept in a box in his pocket, the ultimate proof of what they were. But then if they really were destined mates, why did Kyuhyun…

Kyuhyun notices his stare and tries to curl up, as though ashamed of his mer form, only to let out a cry of pain.

That startles Ryeowook into action. He kneels beside the tub, finally giving in to the urge of taking the merman’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the other's knuckles. Kyuhyun squeezes his hand as he rides out the pain, leans his forehead against the side of the tub, breathing heavily, the strands of his hair brushing against their joined hands.

Ryeowook's heart lurches at the sight, totally forgetting about his misgivings and runs his free hand through the other's hair. Kyuhyun calms down considerably at that and for several minutes they just stay that way, Ryeowook stroking Kyuhyun's hair, hand clasping his. He is about to pull away when Kyuhyun suddenly looks up. Their eyes meet and Ryeowook is mesmerized by the golden specks in Kyuhyun's eyes he doesn’t remember noticing before. Almost in a trance, he allows the merman to take his hand in both of his, holding it gently with the palm up before taking a finger and tracing a single character over and over again on it.

Ryeowook frowns, confused for a while. It should be something he is familiar with otherwise Kyuhyun wouldn't bother doing this, runs through all the hanja he knows only to stop at one he vaguely remembers tracing on the sand repeatedly when he was younger.

護. To protect.

Ryeowook wishes it all made sense.


	77. Breakfast

Heechul yawns as he and Jungsoo make their way to the small diner of the love hotel, drawing curious glances from the staff, though Heechul is not sure if it is because it is rare to see clients actually have breakfast there or because of the cat ears he insists on wearing just to spite Jungsoo — Jungsoo who’d ordered six bottles of soju for him and ignored him the entire night, forcing him to drink all of them just so he won’t lose his mind, especially when the manager had begun stripping off his suit jacket and taking off his tie. It had taken monstrous effort just to look and not touch, especially since Jungsoo had taken mercy on him and uncuffed him when the food arrived. Well, at least he was allowed to look without him getting his eyes gouged out so he counted that as a win. It still didn’t make him any less grumpy though.

Jungsoo continues to ignore him however after he wakes him up with a pillow to the face, doesn’t even ask him what he wants for breakfast, just takes a seat at the nearest booth and asks a staff for a menu. Apparently he’d fallen asleep against Heechul when the latter had passed out from drinking and it somehow was Heechul’s fault. Heechul sighs. He wishes he did have something to do with it, should have woken up earlier so at least it wouldn’t feel too unfair for Jungsoo to be giving him a Level 4 (of 5) cold shoulder. One of the things he honestly misses about them dating is waking up to Jungsoo’s sleeping face, wonders if he still looks soft and unguarded in his sleep or if the burdens of the world had finally taken their toll after so many years. He hopes Jungsoo was at least sleeping well, though the same couldn’t be said about himself who hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since before Jungsoo walked out of his life that rainy night.

He is about to apologize for the nth time when the door to the diner opens and in walk the reason they were here in the first place.

Jongwoon enters, smiling at the person currently clinging to his arm and chatting his ear off. Messy haircut aside, the person was beautiful and Jungsoo and Heechul exchange glances, both puzzled at how someone as introverted as Jongwoon managed to find himself someone like that before realizing that they’d be found out and scrambling to hide under the table.

Jongwoon looks away from Donghae at the noise, just in time to see Heechul disappear under the tacky table cloth. He frowns at the strange behavior and goes to investigate.

“Jungsoo-hyung? Heechul-hyung?” Jongwoon says, raising the table cloth to reveal two grown men trying to fit themselves under a small table. “What are you guys doing here?”

Jongwoon’s companion peers curiously at them over Jongwoon’s shoulder.

Heechul sighs, crawls from under the table, dusts off his red coat and and forces a smirk. “I don’t know, Jongwoon. Probably the same thing as you and your boyfriend.”

He watches in satisfaction as Jongwoon flushes a dark red.

“I… that is… we…”

Jungsoo coughs and kicks Heechul as he straightens up and adjusts his suit. “I highly doubt they stayed up all night drinking, Heechul-ssi.”

Heechul yelps, rubbing his shin. “Ow, Jungsoo. Why so violent? Wasn’t it enough that you had me cuffed and gagged last night?”

Jungsoo kicks him again.

Jongwoon gives them a disbelieving look. “Right. I'll pretend not to have heard that. Anyway, we were just supposed to buy breakfast so we’ll leave you to… whatever you’re doing.”

“Oh, but you haven’t introduced us to your boyfriend yet.” Surprisingly, it is Jungsoo who says this. Said boyfriend tightens his grip on Jongwoon’s arm, looking at them warily.

“Oh,” Jongwoon says still blushing, places a hand over the ones clutching his arm. “Uhm, Donghae. These are Jungsoo-hyung and Heechul-hyung. They're… friends, I guess. Hyungs, this is Donghae. Lee Donghae. My, uhm, boyfriend.”

Heechul and Jungsoo look at each other. Knowing Jongwoon, they were expecting some sort of fumbling denial but to get this straight out admission…

Jungsoo smiles kindly. “Nice to meet you, Donghae-ssi. Has Jongwoon-ssi here been treating you well?”

Donghae just stares at him.

“Donghae? Chagi?” Jongwoon whispers not too discreetly. “You’re staring.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Donghae says, breaking out of his trance. “Hello, Heechul-hyung? And Jungsoo-hyung? It’s strange but why do I feel like we’ve met before?”

Jungsoo raises a brow. "Oh, really?"

Jongwoon laughs. “Are you sure, Hae-ah? Didn't you tell me that you're not good with faces? Ah, maybe you’ve seen him in some of the pictures Jongjin has sent. He’s Jongjin’s manager, you know?”

Donghae just keeps on staring, unblinking.

"Ah," Jongwoon laughs apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Jungsoo-hyung. He really gets like this sometimes when we stay up too late watching dramas. He gets tired the next day and quite spacey, especially if he hasn't had his breakfast yet."

"I bet that's not the only reason he’s tired," Heechul pipes up, waggling his eyebrows. "Now why don't the two of you join us for breakfast instead? You don’t seem to be in any rush?”

Jongwoon’s mind goes to Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, figures he and Donghae hadn’t been gone enough for those two to at least try to talk things through. He groans as Heechul stands up, taking his silence for agreement, and slides into Jungsoo's side of the booth, leaving the other vacant. Sighing, he helps a still staring Donghae in while avoiding Heechul's knowing gaze.

On hindsight, maybe they should have called for room service after all.


	78. Time

Siwon sits up in his clam, gasping for breath. He hadn’t even realized he had fallen asleep, somewhere between wondering what to do with Donghwa and thinking of ways of finding the missing prince. Donghae. Why was it that the one who held the power he needed was the one who had run away to dry land, a place he never dared set foot on, not even when… 

Siwon sighs, rakes a hand through his hair and tries to focus on the reason he’d been startled awake in the first place.

That spell, the one spell he had ever regretted casting in his life… It’s been almost a decade and a half, long enough that he’d made himself forget about it, assuming that everything had worked out for the merman he’d cast the spell on and his human but now…

Siwon clenches his fist. The spell was triggered, meaning the human hadn’t remembered and something pushed that merman into telling him at the risk of losing the very voice that helped them find each other in the first place.

Equally interesting are the two magic signatures he’d picked up nearby — one glowing a soft, pale pink while the other… Siwon frowns, the other, more muted one was a familiar purple, so strangely similar to his own that it could only come from one person. But that was impossible, right?

He looks beside him, sees the pearl he’d kept for all these years glowing with a pale blue light, and thinks maybe it’s time.


	79. Tips

Jongwoon groans as he carries Kyuhyun up the stairs to Ryeowook’s apartment. He had thought he would finally get a break after Donghae’s newfound ability to transform at will but apparently the universe thought otherwise and had given him another merman to carry around. He would have left Ryeowook to it if the other hadn't smiled and pulled the Boss Card™ on him. Jongwoon sighs, wondering when he'd become such a pushover.

It feels like an eternity for Jongwoon's trembling limbs before he finally deposits Kyuhyun into Ryeowook's considerably bigger tub. Kyuhyun was not only taller but heavier than he was used to carrying — must be all the bread Kyuhyun always seemed to be snacking on — and Jongwoon collapses against the side of the tub as Ryeowook starts untying the tablecloth-trash bag combination they had used to keep Kyuhyun's tail from drying out.

Donghae ignores Jongwoon, looking at Ryeowook's tub in envy.

"Jongwoon, can we get a bigger tub, huh, can we? Wookie-ssi's tub looks comfy."

"Hae," Jongwoon says, still catching his breath and waiting for the feeling to return to his arms. "Hae, we don't really need a bigger tub, especially now that you can control your transformations."

Donghae pouts at him. "But our baths… And wouldn't it be easier to clean my hole if we had more space?”

Ryeowook coughs uncomfortably. "Uhm, Jongwoon-hyung, Donghae-hyung, we’re still here, you know."

"But Wookie-ssi, baths are very important."

"I… kinda have to agree," Jongwoon says. "Otherwise, he'd get really slimy and it will be hell the next time you clean the tub, which you have to do at least once a month, by the way, when he changes scales."

"Changes… scales?" Ryeowook is horrified, looks to Kyuhyun for confirmation who just sighs and nods.

"Oh," Jongwoon says, shuddering as though getting some sort of war flashbacks. "And steer clear of his hole." A pause. "Unless, you know, you're into that." Barely manages to dodge the bar of soap a glaring Kyuhyun chucks at his head.

Ryeowook flushes from head to foot. "His… what?"

"His hole," Donghae says helpfully, ignoring the other two as they throw the bar of soap at each other back and forth. "It's covered by his special scale and if that falls off…"

Jongwoon stops, soap in hand. "It already has, though," he says. "Right, Ryeowook-ssi?"

This time, both Kyuhyun and Ryeowook blush.

"Oh, wow! Really? That's great! I'm so happy for you, Kyu!" Donghae says and then goes to hug the younger merman.

Kyuhyun accepts the hug uncomfortably, looking as though he wanted to say something.

"Uh," Ryeowook begins. "Donghae-hyung, it's not really… We're not..." Only  to be interrupted by Donghae hugging him and twirling him around.

"Uhm, Donghae," Jongwoon says when Ryeowook begins looking like he wants to puke. "Hae, put Ryeowook-ssi down. He doesn't look too good."

Donghae pouts but does as he is told. "But Jongwoon, I'm just so happy."

Jongwoon sighs and pats his head. "Of course, you are, but maybe we could go be happy someplace else and leave these two to get settled in.”

"Some place else?" Donghae says. "Like your clam?"

Jongwoon blushes. "Sure," he says. “Anyway, here's your phone, Kyuhyun-ah. Knowing you, there's a fishspeak-to-Korean translator app in there somewhere that might help. Call us if you need anything, okay?”

And with that, he drags a smiling Donghae out.

Ryeowook just watches them go while Kyuhyun makes an annoyed noise and begins typing furiously on his phone. When he’s done, he shows his phone to Ryeowook who blinks and reads:

_Damn, Jongwoon-hyung. Fishspeak-to-Korean translator app? Does he think I'm that stupid? I can read and type just fine, thank you very much! He’s just too smitten to see that Donghae-hyung is a special case, even as far as merfolk go._

Ryeowook blinks again, snorts, and finally, for the first time in a while, allows himself to laugh out loud.

It is the most beautiful sound Kyuhyun has ever heard.


	80. Children of the sea

Donghae dreams.

He is standing on a familiar beach watching the gentle ebb and flow of the tide with the sun setting in the horizon. He wears nothing but a thin white robe haphazardly fastened at the waist as though he’d thrown it on in a hurry. He closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sea breeze blowing against his skin, and wonders where Jongwoon had gotten to. Surely his human was nearby, couldn't be anywhere else but here with him in this almost, not-quite paradise.

He hears a noise, a faint whistling as the wind starts to get colder. He opens his eyes and frowns at the storm clouds starting to form in the once clear sky. Donghae shudders, remembering his first few experiences with storms at sea the times he’d been near the surface when he was younger.

The storm clouds begin to gather, seeming to move as one towards the shore. Somewhere in the distance, a figure rises up from the sea as the wind starts to blow harder and the waves become more turbulent. It keeps moving forward, bringing with it rain and wind and lightning. As it approaches, Donghae makes out the figure of a mermaid, hair blowing in the wind, eyes closed, and her lower body… Donghae gasps when instead of a fish tail, he sees tentacles pushing the mermaid forward, her mouth open in a silent scream amidst the whistling of the wind.

Or was it?

Donghae’s blood runs cold when he realizes that it wasn’t the wind he was hearing but the woman’s voice in their native tongue saying words over and over again like a spell.

“The sea is coming for you, child of the sea,” she chants. “The sea is coming.”

Behind her, a wave rises up and she opens her eyes to reveal glowing violet orbs looking straight at him.

“The sea is coming for you, son of the Sea King,” she says, as her mouth curves into an evil smirk. “Run.”

Donghae wakes up gasping for breath and trembling, jostling Jongwoon who had his arms wrapped around the merman from behind. He looks around, hyper-aware, eyes flashing golden in his panic, adrenaline rushing through his veins, as though expecting something to suddenly materialize out of the darkness. He raises a trembling hand to his chest and feels his heart pounding against it, almost lashes out when he feels a hand rubbing his back soothingly and hears a voice whisper.

“Hae, chagi, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“Jong… woon…” Donghae gasps in between breaths. “Scared… I’m…”

Jongwoon pulls Donghae against him, continuing to rub his back, allowing him to lean against his shoulder.

“Hae, slow down. You’re hyperventilating. Take slow deep breaths. Here,” he takes one of the merman’s shaking hands in his and holds its palm to his own chest. “Breathe with me, okay, chagiya?”

Donghae manages a nod and Jongwoon slows down his breathing, giving the hand he is holding a squeeze. Donghae closes his eyes, concentrates on matching the rhythmic rise and fall of Jongwoon’s chest as he breathes in and out, in and out, the human’s heartbeat strong and reassuring beneath his fingertips. Eventually, Donghae feels the panic die down until he no longer feels like he is drowning and he slumps against Jongwoon, exhausted. They stay that way for a while, breathing in sync and Donghae has never felt more safe.

“So,” Jongwoon says, running his fingers through Donghae’s hair. “Bad dream, huh?”

Donghae shudders and clings to him tighter, refusing to answer, is thankful when Jongwoon does not force the issue, just quietly settles back down to sleep bringing Donghae with him, not letting go.

Across the city, another wakes up in a cold sweat from a dream he forgets the moment he wakes.


	81. Favor

Jongwoon sighs as he walks home from his shift at the grocery. It has been a week since Kyuhyun had transformed and he has heard nothing from either Kyuhyun or Ryeowook, except that both of them were apparently taking a break. He wonders if he should be worried — those two could be a bit stubborn when it came to certain beliefs — but Donghae seemed to be 100% sure that things would work out between them so he took the merman’s word for it. That didn’t stop it from being a tiring couple of days for him, though, especially at the grocery where he’s been covering for Kyuhyun but he guesses he owes the younger man for covering for him that time he basically had a breakdown after he left Donghae at the East Coast, among other things.

It didn’t help that Donghae seemed to still be shaken by that dream he had. He never really got to telling Jongwoon what it was about, claims to have forgotten about it, but every night he’d cling to Jongwoon a little bit tighter as though he were afraid to let go.

If Jongwoon were being honest, he had wanted a reprieve from Donghae’s curiosity, especially about how his new body parts worked, but not like this. Heck, at this point, he was ready to do anything to get his cheerful, overly affectionate Donghae back. If only there was a way to do it…

Jongwoon yelps as a flier comes flying smack onto his face, curses as he takes it off, is about to crumple it and throw it away when he sees that it’s for a resort in Jeju Island. He blinks. He can’t remember the last time he went on vacation and he doesn’t even know what merfolk do on their vacations or if they even have them. Besides, there is no way he could afford a trip right now considering all his debt unless…

He promised himself before that he would never do this, would never take advantage of this particular offer unless he really needed to. Apparently, cheering Donghae up was important enough to swallow his pride and before he could even think about it, he is taking out his phone and dialling a familiar number. The one on the other end picks up and Jongwoon takes a deep breath.

“Hello, Jongjin,” he says. “Can we talk? Hyung, needs a favor.”

 


	82. Divorce

Donghae stretches lazily on the couch watching a morning drama. He’d finished his writing drills — he could write basic expressions now like “hello” and “have a nice day” and “I love you, Jongwoon 💗” — and done his leg exercises and now finds himself bored out of his mind. He pouts. Seriously, why did Jongwoon have to work when they could just stay at home and cuddle all day long. Or they could go out and cuddle. Donghae was not too picky about the place as long as he got his cuddles. As for kisses… well, he didn’t seem to be getting much of those these days except for goodbye kisses Jongwoon would give him, sometimes while he was sleeping, or lazy good night kisses before the human passes out on him. Definitely less of those kisses that made Donghae feel funny down there like the ones he got when they were at the love hotel. Donghae frowns. He thought those kisses were amazing and something Jongwoon enjoyed too so to have them stop altogether…

“She’s cheating on him,” a woman’s voice says and Donghae looks up at the TV to see two women talking at a café.

“Oh? Are you sure?” Her companion asks sipping her tea.

The first woman nods, leaning closer to whisper.

“Yeah, she’s been staying out late…”

Donghae’s ears perk up. Jongwoon had been coming home later than usual these past few nights.

“… and she comes home smelling of smoke and alcohol and a man’s aftershave…”

Donghae frowns. He doesn’t know what any of those are but Jongwoon had been coming home with weird smells that made Donghae crinkle up his nose and push the human to take a shower before crawling into bed with him.

“… and, most importantly, she keeps getting suspicious calls from one Mr. Lee late at night or in the early morning.”

Donghae freezes, eyes glued on the TV screen in horror. Jongwoon was getting calls from a certain Mr. Lee too. What was his first name? Hyuk… Hyukkie?

The second woman nods. “Yup. Those are definitely warning signs. Who knew your sister was like that. I mean, she never seemed like the type to cheat but I won’t blame her with that useless husband of hers.”

Useless… husband?

“I mean, all he ever does is eat…”

Ouch.

“… and sleep…”

Donghae doesn’t sleep… much. At least, he doesn’t think he sleeps much.

“… and lie around all day reading manga and watching TV.”

Donghae blushes and looks around at the boxes of snacks and empty ramen cups and the sports manga he’d just started looking through.

“Absolutely useless and don’t get me started on their water bill,” the first woman agrees and Donghae feels extremely attacked.

“Yah! Poor Meimei. Why doesn’t she divorce that bum already?”

Divorce? Donghae begins tearing up. That means “break up,” right? No! That’s impossible! Jongwoon couldn’t want to break up with him just because he eats too much and sleeps too much and uses up all their water… could he?

“Well, there might be hope yet,” the first woman says and Donghae perks up, crawls in front of the TV with tears falling down his cheeks and waits with baited breath for this noona’s words that might be the only hope he has of staying with Jongwoon.

“I mean,” salvation-noona says with a shrug. “He could get a job.”

A… job?

Donghae releases the breath he was holding. A job. He lets out a relieved chuckle. He just needs a job and Jongwoon wouldn’t break up with him. A pause. But wait, how does one get a job anyway?


	83. Last Day

Jongwoon groans, muscles straining as he pushes with all his might. When Jongjin had said he’d be working for Director Lee Hyukjae as his personal assistant for a week, he didn’t realize that would mean working for him not only as a Director but also as an all around errand guy for his club. That was okay, though. Jongwoon was no stranger to physical labor but this…

“Yes, right there,” a voice says and Jongwoon grits his teeth. “You’re almost in. Just a little bit more. Yes, just like that.” A smirk. “Ah, Jongwoon-ssi, who knew you’d be so great at this?”

Jongwoon growls but keeps pushing. “I‘d… do… better… at… it… if… you… would… just… get… your… flat… ass… off… the… damn… couch… while… I’m… trying… to… get… it… into… your… living… room… Hyukjae-ssi.”

The director laughs, finally takes pity on Jongwoon and stands up. “Hey, I’d have you know, half of Korea loves this ass.”

“Yeah. Thank god I’m part of the other half that actually has taste.” Jongwoon says as he finally slides the couch into its proper place.

Hyukjae glares. “Rude. And just because it’s your last day? That’s it, I’m docking your pay!”

Jongwoon glares at him. “Yesterday was supposed to be my last day. You should be paying me extra for today. I was supposed to take my Donghae to the park today but now I’m stuck helping you re-decorate your flat.”

Hyukjae raises a brow. “Your Donghae, huh? Jongjin-ah says you took on this job so you could earn money to take him out for a vacation even if Jongjin already offered to lend you some. Why all the effort?”

Jongwoon sighs and takes a seat on the couch he had just moved. Thankfully, it was the last piece of furniture he had to move so his job here was basically done.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” Hyukjae says, standing in front of him holding his paycheck. “Unless you want to say bye-bye to this hard-earned paycheck.”

“Fine. It’s because it would be meaningless if I didn’t work hard for it.”

“Oh?”

“Whatever I give Donghae, I want it to be from my own hard work and determination, otherwise what use would it be?”

“Oh, that’s actually quite romantic, Jongwoon-ssi,” Hyukjae says before proceeding to tear Jongwoon’s paycheck right before his eyes.

Jongwoon sees red, stands up. “Hey, listen here you as—”

“—tounding individual who’s giving you a generous bonus for working hard this past week? Why, thank you, Jongwoon-ssi.”

Jongwoon blinks.

“Bonus?”

“Yeah. You kind of deserve it. Thanks for coming over even if you didn’t have to.”

Jongwoon takes the check and his eyes bulge out at the additional zeroes.

“Hyukjae-ssi…”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m kind and generous and handsome. Now go. Maybe you could take your boyfriend out for dinner instead.”

“Thank you, Hyukjae-ssi,” Jongwoon says, bowing deeply. “Thank you very much.” And with that, he excitedly runs out of the director’s apartment.

Hyukjae watches him go, smiling wistfully. It had only been a week but a week was enough for Hyukjae to learn that Jongwoon-ssi would actually be quite a catch. Too bad he was already taken. Honest men usually were.

Hyukjae sighs, falling back on the couch Jongwoon had pushed there. Damn, that Donghae sure was lucky. Hyukjae makes a face.

“Bet my ass looks better, though,” he says.

Because seriously, if Donghae-ssi beat him even in that aspect, life just wouldn’t be fair, would it?


	84. Missing

Jongwoon smiles widely, humming as he leisurely climbs the steps to their apartment, still in high spirits. He’d cashed in on his paycheck and was already thinking about how to ask for a few days off work. A vacation. That should definitely help take Donghae’s mind off whatever’s troubling him and maybe give Jongwoon the opportunity to carry out his plan. He feels the weight of the small box in the pocket of his pants and smiles wider. He’s not sure how Donghae would feel about it — the merman seemed to be delighted only by the simplest things — but Jongwoon hoped it would manage to send the message across.

He reaches the door to their apartment and fumbles a bit for his keys. Their apartment, huh? He wonders when he’d started referring to this place as theirs in his head.

He unlocks the door and opens it, steps in and exchanges his shoes for slippers.

“Hae? Chagi? I’m home,” he calls out.

He waits for Donghae to show up with his usual, “Welcome home. I missed you, Jongwoon,” frowns when he doesn’t get it.

“Donghae?”

He hears the shower running in the bathroom and releases a sigh of relief. Of course, of course Donghae was taking a shower. Where else could he be?

Jongwoon sighs, debating with himself whether he should go in after him. On one hand, he was planning to take Donghae out for a fancy sushi dinner. On the other, he actually misses spending time with Donghae like this, especially when he’d been too tired the past week to do anything but sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Figuring that it’s still early enough to do both, Jongwoon smiles and starts taking off his shirt.

He opens the bathroom door stealthily, planning on surprising the merman only to almost slip and fall because of the water flooding the bathroom floor from the overflowing tub, a tub that contained everything but the merman Jongwoon was looking for.

Jongwoon rushes to turn off the tap before his entire apartment flooded again, heart pounding. Where was Donghae? In a panic, he splashes through the bathroom and the living room, making a mental note to talk to Donghae about the mess he finds there, and throws the door to their bedroom open.

Jongwoon sees the curled up lump of blankets on their bed and forces himself to calm down. He’s here. Donghae’s here. But why was he still so anxious?

“Donghae,” he says, climbing into bed with him. “You’re here. God, you had me worried. I thought you were…”

Jongwoon trails off, blood running cold when he draws the blanket aside to find nothing but pillows and Ddangkoma the turtle plushie’s beady eyes staring judgingly at him.


	85. Job Search

Donghae walks down a familiar street in a white button up Jongwoon had bought for him and jeans that were tighter than the pajama bottoms or shorts Jongwoon made him wear at home. He hasn’t figured out how to get a job yet but remembers the time at the beginning when Jongwoon kept going outside to look for one and figures he might as well start somewhere. He looks around, wishing he could read the signs he sees outside the shops he walks past so he wouldn’t have to actually go in and ask if they had a job for him. He’d never been outside without Jongwoon before and the mere thought of walking into a shop filled with humans alone was really making him nervous for some reason.

He’d been walking around for about an hour, trying to muster the courage to walk into at least one shop when someone suddenly approaches him. The guy was tall, had gelled up hair, and looked like someone Donghae had met before but couldn’t place.

“Hello,” the gelled up guy says with a sleazy smile. “Nice weather we’re having.”

Donghae looks up. There were a few clouds in the sky but the weather was actually hotter than he would have preferred.

“Say,” the gelled up guy says. “You don’t happen to be looking for a job, do you?”

Donghae’s ears perk up. A job? He looks at the sleazy guy, sizing him up.

“A job?” he asks tentatively and the sleazy guy’s smiles widen.

“Why yes,” he says. “You just have to pose and smile for the camera and you’ll get paid for it.”

“Paid?”

“Yes. With money.”

“Oh, money! Those paper things Jongwoon uses to get us food and clothes and bubble baths?”

The man blinks. “I suppose.”

Donghae frowns. So was this it? Was this the job that would keep Jongwoon from breaking up with him.

“Okay, Mr. Sleazy Guy,” Donghae says, looking at him with determination. “I’ll do it.”

Sleazy guy’s eyes sparkle in delight. “Great! Now how do you feel about taking your clothes off?”


	86. Shimkoong

Heechul sighs as he walks beside a silent Jungsoo, trying not to stare too much. Jungsoo had surprised him by showing up at his doorstep a couple of nights back with nothing but the clothes on his back, dark circles under his eyes, and a haunted look.

“Chullie,” Jungsoo had called him by the old nickname, voice uncertain, and that was when Heechul knew something was really wrong. “Chullie, can I… Will you… I just…”

Heechul remembers Jungsoo looking so lost and hurt and afraid that all Heechul wanted to do then was take him into his arms and protect him from whatever was troubling him… but it wasn’t the time, this wasn’t about them, so he just opened his door and let Jungsoo in.

An hour and a couple of soju bottles later, when Heechul was wondering if he were drunk enough to ask what was going on, Jungsoo surprised him by leaning his head on Heechul’s shoulder.

“Jungsoo,” Heechul said. “Are you…”

And Jungsoo surprised him again by throwing an arm around his waist, snuggling closer, just like old times, as though they didn’t have almost ten years of hurt between them. “Later. Please, Chullie, just… let me sleep. I haven’t slept for three days.”

“Three days? But why? Jungsoo, that could get you…”

“Nightmares,” Jungsoo whispered, effectively silencing him. “So please, Chullie… Just for tonight…”

“Okay,” Heechul had said. “Okay,” listening as Jungsoo’s breathing evened out as he fell asleep, promising to watch over him as he slept.

They received the puppy the next day — a small toy poodle Jungsoo promptly named Shimkoong, as thought he’d decided on that name long before they even met. Heechul smiles at the unexpected gift from a friend whose apartment building suddenly had a no-pets policy, is grateful if only for the smile Shimkoong brought to Jungsoo’s face.

They are taking her for a walk now, “walk” used in the loosest sense since Jungsoo seemed to insist on carrying her around like a baby.

Their baby? Heechul finds himself blushing at the thought, reminds himself not to get too attached. This was not permanent. He knows Jungsoo. Those nightmare really must’ve shaken the other man to the core and Heechul just happened to be the only person in his life right now whom he could run to who wouldn’t judge him as weak. Heechul sighs, not sure if he should be glad or sad about how Jungsoo didn’t seem to have anyone to turn to like that. If only Jungsoo would forgive him already…

“Heechul-ssi,” Jungsoo suddenly stops on the sidewalk, making Heechul almost crash into him. “Heechul, isn’t that..?”

Heechul frowns, looks towards where Jungsoo was staring, eyes widening when he sees someone he’d been trailing for work for months and following behind him…

Heechul curses, breaking into a run, Jungsoo close behind him.

Jongwoon was definitely going to owe him big time for this.


	87. George

George was having a good day. The weather was good, he won a free lunch at his usual diner, and, most importantly, that pesky debt collector who was on his tail was nowhere in sight. George shudders. At first, he seriously thought those loan sharks he owed money to were underestimating him by sending someone dumb enough to wear a red coat while supposedly spying on someone. He didn’t look too strong either with those delicate features and smaller build. But then George had asked around and learned that the debt collector’s name was Heenim and he was quite… notorious with his methods. Besides, the guy’s stare really did give him the creeps and he resolved to avoid confrontation as much as possible.

“Hey, Mr. Sleazy Guy. Are we there yet?” His companion asks for the nth time and George grits his teeth. He thought he’d struck gold when he found such a pretty guy standing around looking lost. He was stupid too, which was always a plus, but did he really have to keep asking every 30 seconds.

George takes a deep breath, puts on his best smile to tell him that no, they weren’t there yet and was he really that eager to take his clothes off, only to have it melt right off his face when he sees someone in a familiar red coat walking towards them.

“Aiden!” the man exclaims loudly, drawing curious looks from passersby. “There you are! Teukie and I have been looking all over for you.”

Donghae blinks at the newcomers. They seemed vaguely familiar and Donghae feels as though he should know them.

“Aiden?” He asks to be sure.

“Yes, you. You’re Aiden,” the man in the red coat says, placing a hand on Donghae’s shoulder and looking at him meaningfully before turning to sling an arm around a frozen George. “And I see you’ve met my friend, George. Yo, man! Whazzup? Long time no see.”

“H-h-heenim?” George stutters and starts to sweat. “I-is he your friend?”

Donghae looks from Heechul to George and frowns.

“You, guys… You look the same. Is he your twin, Mr. Sleazy Guy?”

Heechul’s jaw drops.

“What the hell? He’s not even Korean.” Heechul sighs. “Anyway, Teukie-dear. Why don’t you and Aiden go to that café we were supposed to meet at.” An evil smirk. “Me and my man George here just need have a little talk about our other good friend, Tanaka-san.”

George gulps, forgetting about bonuses and photoshoots and that gold watch he was planning to buy. Looks like his luck had finally ran out.


	88. So this is what parenting feels like

Donghae stares as the person in the white tracksuit and familiar aura sets a drink in front of him — something slightly purple and sweet-smelling — and another smoothie on the table beside him before taking the seat opposite, a cup of plain black coffee in his hands.

“It’s a blueberry banana smoothie,” the man says with a kind smile, in total contrast with the aura he is projecting. “I’m not sure what flavor you usually get but I seem to remember Jongwoon-ssi mentioning that you liked bananas.”

Donghae’s sniffs curiously at the drink, eyes widening when he hears Jongwoon’s name. “You know Jongwoon, Mr. Sc—”

“Ah! Jungsoo! Donghae! There you are!” the man in the red jacket calls loudly and Donghae watches his companion sigh in exasperation as the newcomer plops down beside him, a little too close. He doesn’t move away though and Donghae wonders at the relationship between the two.

“That was quick even for you, Heechul-ssi,” the man identified as Jungsoo comments, sipping at his coffee.

“Well, George-ssi took less ‘convincing’ than I expected,” Heechul smirks while taking a sip of his drink only to promptly turn green.

“Jungsoo! What the heck is this?”

“It has bitter gourd, kale, and leeks,” Jungsoo says. “It’s supposed to be good for old men like you.”

“Says the old man,” Heechul rolls his eyes but continues sipping on the drink slowly before turning to Donghae. “And you! What the hell, Donghae-ah. Are you stupid? Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to talk to strangers?”

Donghae’s eyes widen again and he begins to inch away slowly from them.

Jungsoo sighs, glaring at Heechul. “Not us, Donghae-ssi. We’re friends of Jongwoon. Besides, we’ve already had breakfast together before, remember?”

"Oh," Donghae says, squinting at them. "Jongjin's manager-hyung?" he asks pointing at Jungsoo, who just smiles and nods. "And yaoi-manga-debt-collector-gangster-hyung?" he says, pointing at Heechul, who balks at him while Jungsoo laughs.

"That sounds just about right," Jungsoo agrees. "Now tell us, Donghae-ssi. What were you doing back there?"

Donghae looks at him, before sighing and stirring his drink, muttering something.

"I'm sorry," Jungsoo says. "What was that again?"

Donghae keeps stirring his smoothie, tears beading at the corner of his eyes. It takes almost a minute before he simply says, "A job."

Jungsoo and Heechul look at each other.

"A job?" Heechul clarifies.

"Were you looking for a job, Donghae-ssi?"

Donghae nods, still not looking at them.

"But why?"

A sniffle and the older men watch in horror as Donghae starts to cry.

"To get money… so won't be… useless… and Jongwoon… won't divorce… and… leave… for Lee Hyukkie," he says pitifully in between hiccups, making Jungsoo and Heechul scramble to comfort him.

"There, there, Donghae-ssi," Jungsoo says, reaching out to pat Donghae's head. "Of course, Jongwoon-ssi wouldn't leave you? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Yeah," Heechul says. "That guy is so whipped for you, he’d be willing to take on fifty more jobs if it meant you didn't have to work."

"B-but," Donghae says. "He's started coming home late…"

"Maybe he's doing overtime?"

"And he comes home smelling funny…"

"Is he perhaps doing construction?"

"And he always gets calls from someone called Lee Hyukkie."

"Well, that's not promising," Heechul comments and Jungsoo elbows him.

"Lee Hyukjae-ssi?" Jungsoo asks. "He's a concert director. Jongjin-ssi worked with him before." A pause. "Maybe Jongwoon-ssi’s working for him now? I do remember him asking Jongjin-ssi to find him a job."

"But… I'm useless and do nothing but eat and sleep and read manga and take baths and…"

"Donghae-ssi," Jungsoo says, placing his hands on the merman's shoulders. "Is that what you really think Jongwoon thinks?"

Donghae stops his rant. "I… but the TV noonas said…"

Jungsoo raises a brow. _TV noonas?_ Chooses to ignore it in favor of addressing the real issue. "Donghae-ssi, have you talked to Jongwoon-ssi about these feelings?"

Donghae just looks at him. "Talk?"

Jungsoo smiles. "Yes, talk. That's what people who care for each other are supposed to do when they have something on their minds. It may not solve everything but sometimes, simply telling people how you think or feel instead of jumping to conclusions does wonders."

Heechul grumbles something beside him that sounds suspiciously like “hypocrite” that earns him another elbow to the side.

Donghae looks at them thoughtfully. "So I should just talk to Jongwoon? And he wouldn't divorce me?"

"Yes," Jungsoo says, trying  his best to maintain his encouraging smile. "And if you really want to work after you talk things through, then maybe you could find work together?"

"So… that means I won't have to take my clothes off to get paid?”

Heechul and Jungsoo look at each other again and Heechul stands up, cracking his knuckles. "Damn that sleazy bastard…" he says through gritted teeth. "Donghae-ah, Jungsoo, just… wait here, okay? I think I need to do a little more 'convincing' after all."

Jungsoo doesn't stop him, just watches him go, before turning to Donghae and smiling again.

"So, Donghae-ssi, about those dramas you've been watching…"


	89. You know it’s an AU when Heechul talks sense into people after beating someone up

Jongwoon walks hurriedly down the sidewalk, still in a state of panic. He’d been to almost every place he and Donghae had been together — the river, their usual diner, the Little Prince, the park, even the karaoke place they’d gone to that one time — to no avail, regrets not putting some sort of tracker on the merman when he had the chance like the one parents use on their kids because seriously, no matter how old Donghae actually is, he really is but a bit more than a child when it comes to how things go in the human world and wasn’t that a scary thought. He quickens his pace, almost breaking into a run, as he nears the last place on his list — the love hotel they’d been to — when he turns into the alley leading to it and stops at the sound of someone beating someone else up. He is about to turn back when a familiar red coat catches his eyes and he approaches.

“Heechul-hyung?”

Heechul stops kicking the man on the ground — a foreigner from the looks of it and almost twice Heechul’s size — to look at Jongwoon.

“Hyung!” Jongwoon says again, holding Heechul back by the shoulders as the foreigner curls up into a ball and cries in pain. “What are you doing?”

“Work,” Heechul says with a grim expression. “And then some…”

“But hyung,” Jongwoon says, trying not to shiver at the scary expression on the other man’s face. “What did he do to deserve this. Look, he’s almost…”

“That scum,” Heechul curses, breaking free of Jongwoon’s grip and turning to face him. “Yesex! You of all people shouldn’t be defending him.”

Jongwoon frowns at the use of the old nickname. “What? Why?”

Heechul kicks the man again, making him groan. “That bastard, that fucking bastard almost conned your cute and innocent boyfriend into doing a nude photoshoot.”

“What?” Jongwoon’s mind blanks at the words “nude” and “photoshoot.”

“Yeah,” another kick. “And if we hadn’t seen them sooner,” and another. “Who knows what fucking else.”

Jongwoon is silent for a moment and Heechul takes this as a go-ahead to continue the beating, is surprised when he feels a hand on his shoulder moving him to the side.

“Yesung-ah…” he looks to the side and shudders at the fierce glare on the usually mild-mannered man’s face.

“I’m sorry, hyung, but can you please do me a favor,” Jongwoon says, cracking his knuckles, eyes flashing dangerously.

“What is it?” Heechul asks, curiously.

“Hyung, when it comes down to it, will you help me hide the body?”

Heechul just throws back his head and laughs.

—

“Ah, that was refreshing, wasn’t it, Jongwoon-ah?” Heechul says cheerfully, slinging an arm around Jongwoon’s shoulders and leading him down an unfamiliar street. “Though I must say, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Hyung,” Jongwoon says, on the verge of panicking. ”Are you sure he’s okay? I… don’t really know what came over me.”

Heechul waves him off. “Ah, he’ll live. Don’t worry, Jongwoon-ah. That guy has several warrants and deportation orders against him. I doubt he’d go to the authorities.”

“But hyung…”

“Tsk, tsk. You really are too soft for your own good. I said don’t worry. The important thing is we got to teach him a lesson and I’m finally getting paid. By the way, you should really keep a better watch on that boyfriend of yours so he wouldn’t feel neglected. Who knows what trouble he’ll get himself into next with how gullible he is.”

“But, hyung, I’ve been working an extra job to earn money to take him on vacation to Jeju and I didn’t think…”

“He was out looking for a job because he doesn’t want, and I quote, ‘Jongwoon to divorce me and leave me for Lee Hyukkie,’” Heechul deadpans.

“What?”

“I know. It was a good thing Jungsoo and I happened to see him when we did. He really was ready to do anything to be useful so you won’t leave him.”

“But hyung, why would he think that? Of course I won’t leave him! That’s just…”

“Yeah, I know that and so does Jungsoo. But does Donghae?”

“…”

“Like I said, Donghae may not have said it but I got the impression that he was feeling a bit neglected. Seriously, don’t you guys ever talk about these things?”

“But… I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“You could have at least told him you were working for that Hyukkie guy.”

“…”

“Anyway, here we are,” Heechul says, stopping before the door of a café. “And just to warn you, Jungsoo seems to have decided to adopt Donghae as his own so he may be a teensy, weensy bit more upset about this entire fiasco than me.” A smirk. “Brace yourself.”

Jongwoon’s eyes widen and he gulps nervously as a still smirking Heechul opens the door and ushers him in.


	90. Compensation

Jungsoo watches Donghae play with Shimkoong, an almost fond smile on his face. For some reason, he felt some sort of kinship with the younger man who, though he would sometimes stare at Jungsoo for minutes without blinking, was actually very endearing in a clueless, stupid kind of way that made you want to protect him. If only he didn’t say and do the oddest things, that is.

For example, when Jungsoo first handed Shimkoong over, Donghae had taken her into his hands and brought her closer, had a staring contest for about a minute, then asked, “Hyung, what is this creature? Is she for eating?”

“What? No!” Jungsoo exclaimed, horrified. “That’s Shimkoong. She’s a toy poodle and my pet.”

“Oh,” Donghae said, giving Shimkoong a sniff then before proceeding to pet her like a normal person and Jungsoo finally released the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

They stay like that for a couple of minutes with Donghae asking questions every now and then — “why is her fur so soft, hyung?” and “where did you get her?” and “do you think Jongwoon would get me a Shimkoong too if I asked really nicely?”

Jungsoo laughs, answers the questions patiently, is about the talk about his plans to buy Shimkoong dresses when he sees Heechul return with a scared-looking Jongwoon in tow.

Donghae notices Jungsoo stop talking and looks in the direction he’s staring at.

“Jongwoon!” Donghae cries, standing up and going to the other, leaving Shimkoong on the table.

That seems to break Jongwoon out of his trance and he is meeting Donghae half-way and pulling the merman into a fierce hug in the middle of the busy café.

“Donghae!” Jongwoon says, holding Donghae close with a hand around his back and the other behind his head. “Thank god! You had me so worried! I came home and when I didn’t find you…”

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says, returning the hug and fighting back tears. “I’m sorry but the TV noonas said you’d ‘divorce’ me if I did nothing but stay in the house all day and read manga and eat your food and use up all the water."

“Stupid,” Jongwoon says, still not letting go. “We haven’t even gotten married yet. How can we divorce? Besides, you know I’ll never leave you right? No matter how much you eat nor how many times you forget to turn off the tap in our bathtub and flood our apartment. Even if you drive me crazy sometimes with everything you say or do or watch on TV. I’ll never leave you.”

“Not even for Lee Hyukkie?”

Jongwoon frowns, pulling away. “What does…” Shakes his head before taking Donghae’s face in his small hands. “No, Hae. I don’t know what gave you the idea but I won’t leave you — not for Lee Hyukjae-ssi or anyone for that matter. After all, aren’t you my destined mate?”

“Jongwoon…”

Donghae is about to say something when a café staff approaches them, looking apologetic.

“Uhm, Sir. If you’re going to propose, can you please do it now? We close in 10 minutes.”

Donghae blinks at the staff and Jongwoon stiffens, finally realizing that almost the entire café was watching them.

“I…”

Heechul saves them somehow by clapping his hands and declaring loudly. “Okay, folks. Move along. Nothing to see here. No one’s proposing to anyone tonight.”

“Really?” Jungsoo asks, approaching them. “Why are you so sure, Heechul-ssi?”

Heechul snorts. “Don’t lie, Jungsoo. I know you’d be wanting to have a Talk™ with Jongwoon here before giving your son away in marriage. And besides, they won’t be able to afford any wedding.”

“Oh?” Jongwoon said. “But I actually have…”

“2 million won,” Heechul smirks, an evil glint in his eyes. “Just about enough compensation for me saving your lovely boyfriend from exploitation, don’t you think, Jongwoon-ah?”


	91. It’s been a while since we got this much cheese so have at it

Jongwoon sighs for what seems like the thousandth time, walking beside Donghae who keeps stealing worried glances at him. Jongwoon knows his foul mood was affecting the merman as well but he can’t help but be a bit annoyed since handing Heechul the money he’d worked so hard for for the past week. He’d tried to strike a deal with Heechul but seeing as Jungsoo was actually willingly spending time with the debt collector these days, Jongwoon really didn’t have much to offer.

“Tell me about your mermaid roleplay,” Heechul had said with a smirk. “And I’ll take 200,000 won off.”

“No deal,” Jongwoon had replied instantly without any hesitation even as he forked the last bill over. “As if there’s anything to tell.”

“Right. Of course there isn’t,” Heechul had said, counting his money before giving Jongwoon a wink that said he didn’t believe him.

Jongwoon growls. That Heechul-hyung… sometimes he doesn’t know if meeting the other had been a blessing or a curse. Ah, and he really had been looking forward to going on that vacation with Donghae.

A shuffle and Jongwoon feels Donghae grab at his sleeve, forcing him to stop and turn to the other who keeps his head bowed, eyes on the floor.

“Jongwoon,” the merman says softly. “Jongwoon, I’m so, so sorry. If only I didn’t leave home…”

Jongwoon looks at Donghae — head bowed and an obvious pout on his lips, he really did look quite pitiful — and his heart melts. He takes a deep breath, forces himself to smile before taking the other’s hand in his.

“Hae, chagi, I’m not mad at you. It isn’t your fault there are people in this world who would take advantage of other people.” At this point, Jongwoon realizes he isn’t sure whom he is referring to. “Besides, if anyone should be blamed, I guess it should be me.”

Donghae looks at him then, protest already on his lips. “But Jongwoon, you…”

Jongwoon shakes his head. “Yes, Hae. It is my fault. If only I had told you that I had taken on a new job, then you wouldn’t have a reason to worry, especially about me leaving you.”

“But Jongwoon,” Donghae insists. “The TV noonas are right. I really don’t do anything for you. Maybe if I just could…”

Donghae trails off when Jongwoon reaches up to cup his face with both hands, palms pleasantly warm against his cheeks, before leaning down to press a gentle kiss upon the merman’s lips.

“The TV noonas are wrong, Hae,” Jongwoon says, pulling away. “You actually do something very important for me.”

Donghae frowns. “But I don’t…” he tries to protest, only to be interrupted by another, longer kiss.

Jongwoon pulls away to rest his forehead against Donghae’s before whispering, “You make me happy, Hae. That’s what you do for me.” A smile. “And the only thing I ever want is to make you happy as well.”

“But you do, Jongwoon,” Donghae says earnestly with teary eyes. “You do make me happy with whatever you do. You should know that. After all, I came back, didn’t I?”

“Donghae…” Jongwoon says, tearing up a bit as well. “Ah, but it would have been so much fun to go on that vacation with you.”

“Vacation?”

Jongwoon laughs. “You seemed a bit down recently that’s why I wanted to take you someplace else other than the café or the park or any other places nearby. That’s what a vacation is.”

“Oh,” Donghae says looking thoughtful. “But can’t we go still?”

“Not without money, no.”

“Hmm,” Donghae frowns. “How about that lake your omma told me about, the one you and Jongjin played at when you were kids?”

Jongwoon blinks. “Oh, that’s in my hometown.”

“Then why don’t we go there?” Donghae asks.

Jongwoon considers it for a moment. It wouldn’t cost much, just the fare for the train ride since they could always stay with Jongwoon’s parents and… His eyes widen.

“No!” Jongwoon says, suddenly remembering the last time his parents had met Donghae. “Absolutely not! No way!”

“But why, Jongwoon? Your omma said we could stay with them if ever we decide to come and visit. Wouldn’t that count as a vacation too?”

“Donghae,” Jongwoon says, about to lose his wits. “The last time you met my parents, you said… And now…”

“Breathe, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, taking Jongwoon’s hand and placing its palm against his chest in an action reminiscent of the night he himself had a nightmare. “Relax. Everything will be alright. Your omma and appa wouldn’t have invited us if they didn’t want us to come. Let’s go visit your hometown, okay, Jongwoon?”

That… wasn’t really the problem but Jongwoon couldn’t really say that, not when Donghae was looking at him expectantly, puppy eyes flashing golden in the moonlight. In the end, he gives in.

“Fine. Okay. I guess we should give omma and appa a couple of days notice to prepare my old room and oomph…”

Jongwoon wheezes as Donghae wraps his arms around him and gives him a tight hug.

“I love you, Jongwoon,” the merman says happily. ““I can’t wait to see Omma and Appa and Melo and Kkoming.” Ignores Jongwoon’s protests and continues to squeeze the human between his muscular arms.

Somewhere in the distance, a shadowy figure turns his back on the happy couple, a scowl on his handsome face. It was back to the drawing board for him, it seemed. 


	92. Donghae gives advice

Donghae hums as he folds the clothes Jongwoon had hung out to dry the previous day. The two of them did laundry together — Donghae had insisted on doing something useful and Jongwoon had given in and let him help — and Donghae smiles as he breathes in the pleasant smell of the powder that Jongwoon called laundry detergent. It was supposed to make clothes clean when mixed with water, Jongwoon had said, and was different from the soap or shampoo or bubble baths they used to clean their bodies. Donghae finds it fascinating how humans have so many kinds of sweet-smelling stuff to be used for different things.

He continues to fold their laundry, most of which are clothes they plan to bring on their vacation. Four days. Jongwoon had managed to get four days off and Donghae can't wait to spend so much time with Jongwoon without the other having to run off to do work or some other stuff Donghae can't help with. Also, the act of folding clothes itself was quite comforting and Donghae smiles as he loses himself in the motions. He is so engrossed with his task that he barely hears the knock on their door.

His ears pick up the sound on the third set of knocks though and Donghae frowns, trying to remember what Jongwoon had told him to do at times like these. He approaches the door, sees the peephole and remembers Jongwoon telling him to look through it first to check if it’s someone he knows which, Donghae thinks, would not really help considering his faulty memory. He does so anyway, finds himself looking at a familiar, if distorted, face.

“Donghae-hyung,” he hears someone call from the other side of the door. “It’s me, Ryeowook.”

Donghae breaks into a smile then, hurriedly opening the door.

“Wookie-ssi,” Donghae greets his visitor excitedly, promptly gathering the shorter man into a hug.

“Donghae-hyung,” Ryeowook says again, a bit taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting. “Uhm, hello. I brought lunch.”

“Oh,” Donghae says, releasing him. “But Jongwoon’s not here.”

“I know,” Ryeowook says, with a strange smile and it is only then that Donghae notices the dark rings under the other man’s eyes. “I actually came here to talk to you.”

—

Donghae carefully brings a piece of shrimp coated in something crunchy to his mouth using the pair of training chopsticks Jongwoon got him. The chopsticks sport some cute electric rat character as its design that Donghae has been meaning to ask Jongwoon about but keeps on forgetting. Those chopsticks have helped a lot, though, and Donghae has gotten a bit better at not dropping larger food using them. He chews happily on the shrimp, following it with a spoonful of rice, all the while watching Ryeowook for lack of anything better to do.

He had helped Ryeowook set their meal up and now they are sitting at the table, eating silently, a noontime variety show playing in the background. Or at least, Donghae was eating. Ryeowook just keeps pushing his food around his plate and sighing every now and then. Donghae notices this, swallows his bite of food, and asks.

“Wookie-ssi? Why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry?”

Ryeowook blinks, realizes he spaced out yet again, smiles weakly at Donghae.

“I’m okay, hyung. Just… a little bit tired and stressed. Kyu and I… We’re still trying to figure things out.”

“Oh?” Donghae says, eating more of the crunchy shrimp. “Because he has his tail again? Weren’t our tips helpful?”

Ryeowook blushes. “Uhm, yes. They were, thank you, though Kyu hasn’t shed scales yet.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Hyung, do you know anything about spells?”

“Not that much, no.” Donghae says honestly. “Omma should know quite a lot though.” A frown. “Kyu asked me about that too, I think, a little while ago — especially about how I got my legs.”

Ryeowook blinks. He and Kyuhyun have decided to put aside the matter of them being destined mates and whatever happened in their past for the moment and concentrate on trying to figure out how to undo the side effects of the spell that made the merman human but now that Donghae mentioned it…

“How did you get your legs, hyung?”

Donghae thinks about it for a while before answering. “I actually don’t know. The first time I got my legs was when Jongwoon said he loved me and kissed me under the moonlight in the dirty river the night I came back.”

Ryeowook frowns. “Really? So growing legs, becoming human… it can happen even without a spell?”

Donghae shrugs, stretching said legs under the table. “I don’t know if there was a spell involved or not. If it were a spell, I didn’t cast it.”

“So could you?”

Donghae shrugs again. “I don’t know. I can’t really remember if I could or how to do any.”

“Do you think it has something to do with you and Jongwoon-hyung being destined mates?”

“Maybe,” Donghae says. “Though we already kissed a couple of times before that happened.”

“Then why…” Ryeowook exclaims, getting a bit frustrated. “If it could happen some other way, why did Kyu have to…”

“Did you ask him?”

“What?”

“Did you ask Kyu why he had the spell cast on him to make him human?”

Ryeowook looks away. “I have,” he confesses. “But all he says is that he did it to protect me and it just doesn’t make sense because from what I remember…”

“Have you kissed him?” Donghae asks, as though he hadn’t heard what Ryeowook said.

“W-what?” Ryeowook blushes at the unexpected question.

“Kyu,” Donghae says patiently. “Have you kissed him?”

“W-what? N-no! Of course not! Why would I?” Ryeowook stammers, just glad that no one else is around to see him this flustered.

“Then maybe you should, Wookie-ssi,” Donghae says with a smile. “After all, you’re destined mates.”

“But hyung… We’re not… I don’t…”

“Are you sure, Wookie-ssi? I mean, I don’t really know much but isn’t it at least worth a try?”

“…”

“Oh and maybe you could tell him you love him too, though I don’t really recommend doing that in the river. It’s really icky and took quite a number of baths before all the algae washed off. There was actually this one time when…”

And Ryeowook zones out once again as Donghae continues to babble about algae and seaweed and bath bombs, apparently forgetting about the original topic of their conversation, which is perhaps a blessing as Ryeowook doubts he would be prepared to hear the merman’s other suggestions.

“Have you kissed him?” Ryeowook hears Donghae ask again in his mind and he is suddenly reminded of what happened that morning during breakfast. He tries to bring his attention back to what Donghae is saying to distract himself, only to regret it immediately when he hears Donghae say, “Oh, and there was that time when Jongwoon accidentally slipped and fell on my…”

Ryeowook hurriedly tunes out again, buries his blushing face in his hands, and lets out a silent scream.


	93. It happens to the best of us, don’t worry, Kyukyu

Kyuhyun glares at the screen of his borrowed phone, tapping furiously on neon-colored dots. He’d been playing the same song on his favorite rhythm game for almost half an hour now, trying to get a perfect score, something he could easily do on the first try on normal days. But then this wasn’t exactly a normal day for him, was it — hasn’t been since the day he’d confessed to Ryeowook, lost his voice, and regained his tail. His tail… Kyuhyun curses in fishspeak — the only language he could apparently speak now — when he misses another beat, barely keeps himself from chucking the phone against the wall. When it all came down to it, it really was all his tail’s fault. When he was younger, his tail was actually one of the things about himself that he was proud of, second only to his voice. Merfolk would usually stop to look and compliment him, its pearl blue color already rare in itself. Now though…

Kyuhyun fails the song once again and he gives up, tossing his phone aside to glare at his tail, blushes when he remembers the feeling of a small hand resting on a particular part of his tail, and proceeds to bang his head on the side of the tub.

If Kyuhyun allows himself to think about it, it really was just a matter of time before it happened. If what he’d gathered from Jongwoon’s and Donghae’s disjointed narrations were true, it really was just pure luck that he and Ryeowook had already spent as much time as they had together without it happening. Because, for the first time that morning, Ryeowook decided it was a good idea to sit on the side of the tub to read what Kyuhyun was typing on his phone instead of waiting for the merman to finish typing as he usually would, managed to slip while leaning over, and fell face first into the tub.  Kyuhyun had turned then trying to cushion the other’s fall, let go of his phone which made a rather loud “plop” as it sunk to the bottom of the tub, only to find the human’s face suddenly within centimeters of his own, lips almost touching, eyes wide with one hand on the merman’s chest and the other…

Kyuhyun thumps his head even harder when he remembers the rather embarrassing squeak he’d let out when Ryeowook tried to move his hand to get up, instead managing to brush against a certain orifice. The sound in turn made Ryeowook blush and hurriedly get off him, muttering apologies and promising to get Kyuhyun a new phone, as if it was only his destroyed phone that was the matter and not Kyuhyun practically losing it at being touched _there_. Apparently the amount of time he’d spent as a human made that part suddenly more sensitive than he remembered and it took all of his acting  and sign language skills to assure Ryeowook that he was okay, in spite of his red face and dilated pupils.

Kyuhyun remembers the feeling now and bites his lower lip, wishing there was some way to magically conjure alcohol out of thin air because damn, did he need a drink right now otherwise he would go mad.

And, as though the universe finally takes pity on him, he hears a knock on the bathroom door, looks up to find Ryeowook standing at the door with a strange, haunted expression, holding something that looked like convenience store sushi and several bottles of soju.

Kyuhyun looks at Ryeowook questioningly as the human approaches, placing his haul on the low table next to the tub before sitting facing Kyuhyun and saying, “I talked to Donghae-hyung. He thinks he knows a way to at least get your legs back.”

Kyuhyun raises a brow, the statement sending both a chill and a strange thrill down his spine. The last time he’d talked to the older merman, he didn’t seem to know what caused his own transformations. He tilts his head to the side prompting Ryeowook to continue, looks at Ryeowook curiously when the other just looks away and concentrates on unwrapping what was apparently their dinner. Ryeowook then proceeds to open a bottle of soju and pours each of them a shot. He pushes one of the glasses towards Kyuhyun who just blinks at it.

“Drink up,” Ryeowook says ominously. “I don’t think you want to be sober for what I’m about to tell you.”


	94. I don’t think I’m drunk enough for this

Sometimes, Kyuhyun wonders how he gets himself into these things.

He knew Ryeowook suddenly showing up with alcohol and a haunted expression should have tipped him off that something strange was about to happen but it really didn’t prepare him for this. It didn’t help either that he was only very slightly buzzed because seriously, what possessed Ryeowook to actually suggest going to the river and re-enacting whatever happened between Jongwoon and Donghae there the night Donghae got his legs? If only Kyuhyun could talk, he would’ve been screaming at Ryeowook all the way to the river that this wasn’t a good idea no matter how drunk they got, especially now that Ryeowook was struggling to carry him in his arms, almost stumbling a few times while Kyuhyun hung onto the human’s neck for dear life.

They finally reach the riverbank, thankfully without being spotted and Ryeowook wades into the water, making a face when a floating instant ramen cup hits his arm. When they are at an acceptable depth, he lets go of Kyuhyun who flounders a bit before regaining his balance.

“Good. It is a full moon,” Ryeowook says and Kyuhyun looks at him curiously, only to be surprised when the human, his human who seemed to be so in denial about them being destined mates, his Ryeongu who’d usually shy away from the simplest displays of affection, reaches a hand behind his neck, draws him down to his level, and kisses him.

It wasn’t even the gentle, chaste kiss, that Kyuhyun expected their first kiss to be. Far from it actually and Kyuhyun wonders how and from whom his Ryeongu learned to kiss like this. It almost overwhelms him, makes his nerves tingle, especially when Ryeowook tilts his head gently to swipe his tongue against the merman’s lips. Kyuhyun gasps in surprise then, allowing the other to slip his tongue in, and it’s all Kyuhyun could do to try to match Ryeowook in his surprising intensity.

They part after a while, leaning their foreheads against each other while they catch their breath. Their eyes meet and Kyuhyun forgets for a moment why they’re doing this, allows himself to pretend that this was real, that the magic that was supposed to give him back his legs had somehow given Ryeowook back his memory, leans back in for another kiss when Ryeowook surprises him again by saying, “I love you.”

Kyuhyun stops, heart skipping a beat as he hears the words he never thought he’d hear again from those lips.

_I love you, Kyu_ , he remembers a young Ryeowook telling him that fateful night he almost lost the other and to hear those words from him now…

Ryeowook looks at him expectantly and Kyuhyun just stares back, lost in  the memory if that night, until the human breaks the spell and says, “Now it’s your turn. Say it back, just like Donghae-hyung did.”

Kyuhyun feels like he’d just been punched. Of course, of course Ryeowook was doing this just to help him get his legs back but maybe, just maybe…

_I love you,_ Kyuhyun says anyway in fishspeak. _I love you so much, Ryeongu, even if you don’t feel the same way, even if you couldn’t remember, even if you hate me for it. I will always love you._

Ryeowook just looks at him, not understanding a single thing, but allows himself to be kissed when Kyuhyun takes him into his arms after he says his piece. This kiss is softer, gentler compared to their first and Ryeowook finds himself relaxing into it, surprised at how easily, how naturally he’d come to accept the idea of the two of them kissing. They kiss almost lazily, until Kyuhyun jumps when he feels Ryeowook move his hands down his waist and lower, whines when Ryeowook pulls away.

“It isn’t working,” Ryeowook says, on the verge of hysterics. “We did exactly as Donghae-hyung said. Kyu, why isn’t it working?”

Kyuhyun extends his awareness and finds that it’s true — he still had his tail, tries to speak and finds that he still can’t.

“I kissed you and told you that I love you plus we’re destined mates too just like Jongwoon-hyung and Donghae-hyung. Damnit, why isn’t it working, Kyu?”

Kyuhyun looks at Ryeowook as tears of frustration start to fall and is suddenly hit with a realization.

_He really doesn’t mean it._

And Kyuhyun feels something like the beginnings of heartsickness even as he draws Ryeowook in to comfort him.

_Ryeowook said he loves you and this is proof that he doesn’t mean it._

Kyuhyun wonders why he ever thought being destined mates was enough.


	95. Aches and Pains

“Ahhh, finally. My legs hurt,” Donghae says, plopping down onto the seat next to the window. He and Jongwoon had woken up extra early to take a bus to the train station but, for some reason, the bus was packed and the two of them had to stand the entire ride, heavy backpacks placed temporarily on the floor of the bus as Jongwoon held onto one of the poles to steady them, carefully shielding Donghae from the pushing and stumbling of other commuters with his body. Donghae, for his part, managed to stand on his own for the first fifteen minutes or so, holding onto Jongwoon’s beltloops to balance himself, but he eventually got tired, wrapped his arms around Jongwoon’s waist and leaned against him fully, burying his face in Jongwoon’s neck and closing his eyes. Jongwoon had looked around then, blushing when he suddenly felt Donghae move in close but thankfully no one seemed to pay them any attention except for the two college students who kept on giggling at the back. Were they yaoi fangirls? Jongwoon shuddered, even as Donghae began snoring against him, surprisingly able to nap even in that position.

Jongwoon makes his way down the train aisle then, carrying his own backpack as well as Donghae’s, which the merman gleefully abandoned for him to carry when he told Donghae that they were getting off at the next stop. He bows politely to the elderly couple seated across the aisle from them, placing their bags on the overhead compartment before taking his seat next to Donghae who promptly turns to place his bare legs and socked feet on Jongwoon’s lap, the shorts he was wearing riding up a bit.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae whines. “My legs… they hurt. I think we did too much walking and standing.”

Jongwoon frowns, hands going automatically to Donghae’s calves and thighs to massage them, only to remember a little too late where they are when they hear a discreet cough from the seat opposite theirs. Jongwoon blushes when he looks up to see the elderly couple looking at them curiously.

“Uhm, err… Sorry. It’s just recently that he’s been able to walk and this is the longest he’s done since and, uhm…”

“Oh, was he sick? In an accident?” the old woman asks, concerned.

“Uhm, something like that,” Jongwoon says, continuing his massage when Donghae whines again.

“Aww, poor dear. Here,” she says, handing over a small bottle. “Something to help with the pain.”

Jongwoon smiles politely as he takes the proferred bottle. It was some sweet-smelling oil with a hint of peppermint. The old woman keeps looking at him expectantly so he pours a bit on his hands. It feels a bit warm but seems to help when he goes back to massaging Donghae’s legs, the merman humming at the additional relief. Jongwoon then attempts to give the bottle back but the old woman just shakes her head.

“No. No, keep it. We have lots more at home and it looks like it’s helping.” A smile. “He really is lucky, you know, having someone like you help him through this.”

“Oh, uhm, thank you, Ma’am,” Jongwoon says. “But he’s…”

“The luckiest,” Donghae pipes up, leaning over to wrap his arms around Jongwoon’s neck from the side, legs still firmly on Jongwoon’s lap, making the older man blush yet again.

“I love Jongwoon,” he proclaims and the old woman laughs.

“I bet you do,” she says, elbowing her husband next to her. “See, dear? Didn’t I tell you they were a couple? They remind me so much of the two of us when we were younger. And now you owe me cold noodles.”

The old man coughs and looks out the window and Jongwoon smiles as he watches the old woman continue to tease him.

He looks aways when Donghae suddenly makes a small sound against his ear, something between a whine and a moan when he begins to massage the back of his thighs.

“Jongwoon… nngh… yes… feels good… right there,” Donghae keeps saying and Jongwoon is suddenly grateful for the noise as the train picks up speed because really, those words said in that tone… He continues his ministrations though, trying to tune out the sounds Donghae keeps making, tries to distract himself further by thinking of the many ways things can go wrong with him bringing Donghae home to his parents’ house, when Donghae suddenly lets out a particularly loud moan which Jongwoon is so sure the elderly couple and other passengers in their section heard.

“Hae, chagi,” Jongwoon whispers frantically. “Not so loud. We might be disturbing the other passengers.”

“But Jongwoon,” Donghae pouts. “It really feels so good to get a massage after using my legs that much.”

“I know, Hae-ah, but maybe you can tone it down a bit?”

“Okay,” Donghae says, buries his face against Jongwoon’s shoulder to muffle the sounds and Jongwoon is able to relax for while.

The peace is broken though when Donghae shifts a couple of times before leaning up to whisper in Jongwoon’s ear.

“Jongwoon, my butt… it hurts too from all the sitting.” A whine. “Can you do my butt too, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon pretends not to hear him.


	96. Detours and almond cookies

Donghae excitedly jumps off the train the moment the doors open, once again leaving Jongwoon to run after him with both their backpacks. He’d never been this far inland, never has been anywhere for that matter except for places near his and Jongwoon’s apartment. He takes a deep breath of the relatively fresher air and decides that he already likes the town where Jongwoon grew up in.

“Hae! Wait!” Jongwoon calls, hurrying to catch up to him. “Your slippers…” And it is only then that Donghae realizes he’d run off without them.

“Sorry, Jongwoon,” Donghae says as he slips them on, holding onto Jongwoon’s arm for support. “I just got a little bit excited.”

Jongwoon smiles at him. “It’s okay. I was actually just worried you’d hurt your feet.”

“Oh, they don’t hurt,” Donghae says, returning the smile. “At least, not anymore. Your massage helped a lot.”

Jongwoon blushes and looks away, tries not to think about said massage and the noises Donghae made during it. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and is thankful for the distraction, takes it out to read the message he received before sighing.

“Hae, I’m so sorry but Appa can’t come pick us up. We’d have to take the bus home, is that okay?”

“That’s okay, Jongwoon,” Donghae agrees instantly, reaching out to take his backpack from the other, slipping his arms into the straps expertly before latching onto Jongwoon’s arm and entwining their fingers. “I hope Appa is okay.”

Jongwoon smiles. “Yeah. He just had more errands to run than he expected. Well, I guess we should get going then if we want to make it home for dinner.”

They walk out of the station hand-in-hand, drawing a few stares here and there. Jongwoon prefers to think it’s because of Donghae’s looks than anybody actually recognizing him. It has been an embarrassingly long time since he’d been home and running into anyone who knows him now might delay them even more. They make it safely down the few blocks to the bus stop when Donghae’s stomach gives an embarrassingly loud rumble and Jongwoon blinks. They’d eaten their packed sandwiches as well as some other snacks on the train and Jongwoon wonders if he should he worried about Donghae’s seemingly increasing appetite these days.

“Are you hungry, Hae?” he asks anyway and Donghae blinks at him.

“Not really,” the merman says, sniffing the air. “But something smells really good.”

Jongwoon looks around and realizes that they were near the bakery he and Jongjin used to go to when then were younger so it could only be one thing…

“Almond cookies,” Jongwoon says with a hint of nostalgia. “Those are almond cookies. Jongjin and I used to get them with any spare allowance we had at the end of the week. Do you want to try them?”

Donghae just beams up at him.

—

They step into the bakery and Jongwoon suddenly feels like he’s sixteen all over again. The interior hadn’t changed much and though there seemed to be quite a few new additions to the menu, he already knew what they’d be getting. He glances at Donghae who had gone off to look at some fish-shaped bread when someone emerges from behind the counter and greets them.

“Hello, good afternoon. How may I— Yesung-oppa?”

Donghae’s ears perk up at the new voice and the strange name and he goes to see what is happening.

“Yesung-oppa! It really is you! Wow!” a girl wearing an apron was saying before suddenly throwing her arms around Jongwoon in a brief hug. “I don’t know if you remember me but it’s me, Yuri! Kwon Yuri. I was Jongjin’s underclasman in high school.”

“Yuri?” Jongwoon says, a smile of recognition spreading across his face. “Wow! How are you? What are you doing here?”

“Helping out,” a pause. “I’m kind of marrying into the family that owns this bakery in two months.”

“Oh,” Jongwoon says. “Congratulations. So you and… who would have thought?”

“Yeah,” Yuri says, blushing a bit. “I really didn’t think I’d ever get over… but anyway, how about you, Yesung-oppa? How have you been? Any girlfriend? A fiance?”

“Uhm… err…”

“Jongwoon?” Donghae chooses to butt in then, walking up to them with a bag of fish-shaped bread. “Who’s Yesung?”

Jongwoon blinks and Yuri turns to Donghae eyes wide.

“Ah, Donghae-ah. Yesung was kind of a nickname they gave me at school when I used to sing with a band. And this is Yuri. She and Jongjin went to the same high school.”

“Oh,” Donghae says. “Hello, Yuri-ssi. I’m Donghae. Nice to meet you.” A pause. “I’m sorry but why did Yuri-ssi hug Jongwoon a while ago?”

“Donghae,” Jongwoon says warningly while Yuri blushes, suddenly understanding what is going on.

“Oh. Oh! I’m so sorry, Donghae-ssi. I just… It’s been a while since I’ve seen Yesung-oppa and I… I didn’t mean…”

Jongwoon sighs, placing an arm around Donghae and says, “It’s okay, Donghae. Some people like to hug other people as a form of greeting like you do with Ryeowook-ssi and Kyuhyun-ah, remember? Besides, Yuri’s getting married in two months.”

“Oh,” Donghae says, finally relaxing and smiling brightly at Yuri. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Congratulations, Yuri-ssi,” he says before going to hug a surprised Yuri.

Jongwoon shakes his head. There are times when he couldn’t understand what was going on in Donghae’s head even until now.

Donghae finally releases Yuri after a while before going to deposit the pack he is holding onto the counter. Jongwoon finds himself smiling as he looks after him before catching Yuri’s eye.

“So,” she says, eyes sparkling. “A boyfriend, huh? And quite a possessive one at that.”

Jongwoon blushes all the way to the tips of his ears.

“He’s not possessive,” he says instead while going to get some boxes of almond cookies.

“Of course, he’s not,” Yuri says teasingly. “Especially not over such a simple thing as a hug. Should I have gone for a kiss on the cheek instead?”

Jongwoon pretends not to hear her.


	97. Homecoming

Jongwoon and Donghae find Jongwoon’s mother waiting for them in front of Jongwoon’s childhood home as they round the curb from the bus stop. She waves at them and Jongwoon couldn’t help but smile, the scene reminding him of how his mother would wait for him and Jongjin to come home from school at the very same spot, the sight of her smiling face bringing relief and comfort after a long day. The feelings are more intense now, coupled with a bit of anxiety even with Donghae clinging to his arm, especially with Donghae clinging to his arm, and Jongwoon can’t remember if this is how his younger self imagined it to feel to bring a bride home all those years back — except that they haven’t married (or mated) yet and Donghae is definitely no blushing bride, had in fact run ahead of him to greet his mother, scooping her as well as a surprised Kkoming and Melo into a hug.

“Eomeonim,” Jongwoon hears Donghae greet his mother and blushes to the tip of his ears. Jongwoon’s mother laughs, casting a questioning glance at Jongwoon, who just sighs.

“No, Omma. We’re not… Donghae probably just picked that up…”

“…from a morning drama, yes. I’ve been learning more words, Eomeonim, so Jongwoon wouldn’t worry too much about me getting expl… exploded again,” Donghae says proudly.

Jongwoon’s mother raises a brow. “Exploded?”

Donghae thinks about it for a while. “Ah, no. That’s wrong. The word is… exploited. Yes! Exploited!”

Jongwoon’s mother looks more concerned. “Exploited? Are you okay, dear? Jongwoon, what…”

“Ahahaha,” Jongwoon laughs loudly, trying to hide his panic by enveloping his mother in a hug as well. “It’s getting late, Omma. Why don’t we catch up over dinner? Please?”

Jongwoon’s mother returns the hug and Melo yips excitedly while Kkoming slips away to trot towards the door.

“Fine, okay,” Jongwoon’s mother says. “You seem like you two need the rest. And oh, did you pass by the bakeshop near  the station?”

“Yes, Eomeonim, and we got you almond cookies,” Donghae says, holding out the boxes. “From Yuri-ssi.”

“Wow, thank you, Hae dear. That’s quite thoughtful of you.” Jongwoon’s mother takes them with a smile. “Now come on in. Let’s get you settled in, shall we?”

—

Donghae looks around Jongwoon’s old bedroom, fascinated. Jongwoon’s mother said she’d cleaned up a bit but it was practically just how Jongwoon had left it after he finished high school. Pictures of a younger Jongwoon and Jongjin filled up most of the room, as well as posters of basketball stars and rock bands from that era — a far cry from Jongwoon’s practically bare apartment. On one side were several shiny things too — trophies, Donghae would later learn they are called, that Jongwoon won from various singing competitions beside a desk that had a couple of books and magazines piled on it.

Jongwoon places their backpacks beside his bed, watching Donghae walk around his childhood bedroom, peering and prodding at random stuff that piqued his interest, and Jongwoon is suddenly hit by how surreal everything is. Barely a year ago, he’d been working a job he’d hated with no one but Jongjin and Jungsoo and, to an extent, Heechul as friends and zero prospects of a lovelife. Now, he finds himself not only having more friends and a boyfriend — a half-fish at that — but also introducing said boyfriend to his family and having them accept him enough to welcome him into their family home.

Donghae turns to look at him at that exact moment, looking pure and sincere and beautiful, and suddenly, Jongwoon is overwhelmed with emotions.

“Jongwoon?” Donghae asks walking towards him looking worried. “Jongwoon, are you okay?”

Jongwoon forces a smile, jumps when he feels hands cup his cheeks and wipe away the tears that he hadn’t even realized had fallen. He looks up and is surprised to find tears falling down the merman’s cheeks as well.

“Hae, chagi,” he says with a chuckle. “Why are you crying?”

“Because you’re crying, Jongwoon,” Donghae replies instantly and it is all Jongwoon could do not to take Donghae into his arms and kiss him with as much passion as he was feeling right then and there. Instead, Jongwoon leans down to gently press his lips against Donghae’s closed eyelids, tracing the tear tracks down his cheeks to his lips. Donghae’s breath hitches, Jongwoon’s kisses never failing to take his breath away no matter how many times they’ve kissed.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says, eyes gleaming golden in the dim lighting of the room and Jongwoon is almost tempted to make up a reason to skip dinner when suddenly, the door to the room opens and they spring apart.

“Woonie dear, I forgot to give you some towels and… oh,” Jongwoon’s mother stops before them, takes a look at the guilty expression on Jongwoon’s face and the dazed one on Donghae’s and laughs. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt… Wow, Woonie dear, I guess this makes up for all those years you’ve never brought anyone home.”

“Omma,” Jongwoon whines, embarrassed.

“He hasn’t?” Donghae asks, snapping out of his daze.

Jongwoon’s mother laughs again. “No, Hae dear. Our Woonie has always been a bit picky about who he introduces to me and his father. Why, if I remember correctly, you’re the first person he’s ever introduced to us _and_ brought home.”

“I am?” Donghae asks in surprise, suddenly feeling warm and fluffy inside.

“Omma…” Jongwoon protests again only to be ignored.

“You are, dear,” Jongwoon’s mother confirms, placing the towels she had brought on the bed. “Now why don’t you two freshen up before dinner. Your father’s not going to be home until 7:00. Just… please save any baby-making attempts for later, okay? We love you, Hae-sweetie, but you can’t keep getting my and your Appa’s hopes for grandchildren up especially since we still don’t know how it’d actually work.”

“Omma!”

“The toiletries are in the shelf,” Jongwoon’s mother continues as if she heard nothing. “And I think there’s still enough hot water in the shower so you’re good to go.” A pause. “Oh, and Woonie-dear, did you know that your zipper’s open? Poor Hae dear must’ve been too embarrassed to tell you the entire time.”

“What..? But I didn’t…”

Donghae giggles and Jongwoon’s mother gives him a questioning look before walking out of the room with a flourish, leaving a still giggling Donghae and an embarrassed Jongwoon who wished nothing more than to disappear into the flooring, wondering for the thousandth time why on earth he ever thought bringing Donghae home was a good idea in the first place.


	98. Not all you stumble upon on late night walks are trash; some are just really drunk director-nims

Jongwoon smiles as he and Donghae walk hand-in-hand down the street towards the lake Jongwoon and Jongjin used to play at when they were younger, a leash in each of their free hands, Kkoming and Melo leading the way, trotting in front of them in a relatively sedate pace. Dinner had gone suprisingly smoothly all things considered, except for the awkward yet expected conversation about Donghae’s ability to bear offspring and any progress they had taken on that front. Jongwoon coughs, still embarrassed, wishes he hadn’t let Donghae do any explaining — all the talk about eggs and seahorses would give Jongwoon nightmares for the rest of his life; wishes his parents would just let the idea go already. It just wasn’t anatomically possible, no matter what Donghae insisted. It’s just too bad Jongwoon wasn’t able to ask Kyuhyun about it when he had the chance.

Kyuhyun… Jongwoon wonders how he and Ryeowook are doing, the last he’d heard of them being what little Donghae told him about Ryeowook’s visit. Donghae seemed to be determined to keep whatever they talked about a secret, even if he was obviously proud of himself for having given advice. Jongwoon had doubts about it but then again, it was Ryeowook who received said advice so Jongwoon could at least be assured that he at least had the common sense to take whatever Donghae said with a grain of salt.

They reach the park surrounding the lake just as Jongwoon’s mother described it. It wasn’t here the last time Jongwoon visited, when he and Jongjin even had to sneak into the place. Ah, progress, Jongwoon thinks, but there really is something sad about childhood haunts changing without one knowing it.

Kkoming trots up to a bench then and refuses to move and Jongwoon takes this as a sign for them to rest. He pulls Donghae towards the bench and they sit down, Donghae automatically snuggling closer with Melo on his lap. Things are silent for a while before Donghae breaks it.

“Hey, Jongwoon,” Donghae asks. “Why didn’t you become a singer?”

Jongwoon blinks. It was something his father had said in passing over dinner, just a random side comment about how Jongwoon could have beaten the person they were watching on a singing competition on TV, that Jongwoon is surprised Donghae had picked up on.

“Well, I think I could have back when I was in high school, I won a contest that would’ve allowed me to train with a good agency, but then our family really needed money then and you don’t really make any money as a singer until a few years after debut. I have no regrets, though. Helping our family was more important and it got Jongjin where he is.” A wistful smile. “In a sense, Jongjin is living my dream and I’m happy enough with that.”

Donghae is silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought, before he asks, “Does Jongwoon… Do you think we would have met if you became a singer?”

Jongwoon looks at Donghae then, about to laugh off the uncomfortable question until he sees the seriousness in the merman’s eyes. He takes both of Donghae’s hands in his and answers truthfully.

“I don’t know. I mean, it is possible. I still could’ve fallen off the bridge that day but with how busy the schedule of celebrities are…” He shrugs. “It would’ve been less likely.”

“Then I’m glad you didn’t become a singer,” Donghae says with determination. “I’m glad the Jongwoon I met is the Jongwoon as he is now and no one else.” And once again, Jongwoon starts tearing up because how did this usually clueless half-fish manage to say the words he didn’t know he needed to hear all his life.

“Donghae…”

Jongwoon is about to lean in for a kiss — seriously, how could he not be in love with this person — when Kkoming stands up and starts tugging at her leash, impatiently waiting for them to continue their walk. Jongwoon sighs, helping Donghae up, but before letting go, bends down to place a kiss on the knuckles of the hands he is holding. He then looks directly into Donghae’s eyes and says sincerely, “Me too, Donghae. I’m also glad that the Donghae I met is the Donghae who stands in front of me now and no one else.”

They continue walking for a stretch before Kkoming starts walking down a path which leads to an unfamiliar street. Jongwoon wonders if he should be worried but then his mother always says that Kkoming is a smart kid she’d trust with her life. It didn’t seem like Jongwoon had any choice either so he and Donghae carefully follow Kkoming down the dimly lit though not altogether deserted street. Everything goes fine until Jongwoon almost trips on something sticking out of another alley, making Kkoming yelp when he accidentally tugs at her leash.

He looks at what he almost tripped on and recoils upon seeing what seemed to be a pair of feet. He prods it with the tip of his sneakers, hoping against hope that they hadn’t just stumbled upon a murder scene when the figure makes a familiar drunken “hueh” sound.

“Jongwoon,” Donghae peers at him worriedly. “Are you okay? Why are there legs sticking out of…” He trails off when the owner of said legs suddenly sits up and Jongwoon groans when his worst fears are confirmed.

“Jongwoon? As in Kim Jongwoon-hyung?” the man says, sounding instantly sober. “Wow, it feels like ages. Thanks for helping me redecorate last weekend. Oh, and who’s this?”

“Donghae,” Donghae says, moving closer to cling to Jongwoon’s arm while giving the stranger a wary look. “My name is Donghae. Who are you?”

“Oh, so you’re Donghae,” the stranger says, giving Donghae a gummy smile while surreptitiously sizing him up. “I’m Lee Hyukjae. Jongwoon-hyung helped me out last week for some vacation money. It’s nice to finally meet you, Donghae-ssi.”


	99. Does this count as an LQ chapter coz it really doesn't feel like it… much 😅😅😅

Donghae clings tightly to Jongwoon’s arm while watching their new companion closely, Melo a comforting weight in his arms. 

So this was Lee Hyukkie, the same Lee Hyukkie who kept calling Jongwoon at weird hours during the past week and whom the TV noonas made Donghae think Jongwoon was leaving him for. If Donghae were being honest, the director’s appearance didn’t really make any impression on him and he is so sure he’d forget Lee Hyukkie’s face the moment they parted ways but, for some reason, there was just something about him that put the merman on edge. 

Jongwoon didn’t seem to notice though, too absorbed in throwing out a sarcastic comment even as Hyukjae retorts readily with a wiseass remark of his own, and the uneasy feeling in Donghae’s heart grows heavier as he hears Jongwoon laugh and listens to their easy banter. Donghae has never seen this side of Jongwoon before and though, outwardly, Jongwoon seemed to be annoyed with Hyukjae, Donghae got the impression that he somehow enjoyed their conversation as well. Donghae frowns. It just didn’t make sense. Were human interactions really this complex? 

They stop at a relatively new building, sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of more traditional-looking establishments, and Hyukjae turns to Jongwoon. 

“Well, this is my stop. Thanks for seeing me back, Jongwoon-hyung.” A sideward glance at Donghae who just keeps staring at him. “I’d ask if you want to come up but you seem… occupied.” 

Jongwoon snorts. “And have you con me into moving furniture again? Thanks but no thanks.” 

“Hey, I paid you for that,” Hyukjae pouts. “Anyway, let me treat you to dinner as thanks for bringing me back to the hotel. Is tomorrow night okay? This hotel’s restaurant is not too shabby." A pause. "Oh, and Donghae-ssi can come too if he wants.” 

Jongwoon looks at the hotel and then at Donghae who just keeps staring at Hyukjae the way he did when he first met Jungsoo and Jongwoon wonders if Donghae had gotten confused with how alike Hyukjae and Jungsoo looked. 

“Hae,” he says. “Chagiya, do you want to go for dinner tomorrow with Hyukjae-ssi?” 

Donghae blinks at being addressed. “Dinner?” 

“Yes, dinner. At this hotel. I mean, the place looks good and it’s free.” 

“Oh?” Donghae says. “Okay.” Free dinner was always a good thing, right? 

Hyukjae looks at them with a mysterious expression before smiling and saying, “Well, that settles it then. See you tomorrow around 7? 8? Filming should be done by then. You still have my number, right, Jongwoon-hyung?” 

Jongwoon in fact didn’t, had already deleted it, but just nods, making a mental note to ask Jongjin if he ever needs it. 

“Okay. So, I guess this is good night.” And after giving Donghae a final once over, Hyukjae turns and walks towards the hotel’s entrance.  

— 

Donghae is strangely silent during the walk home — not that he talked all that much to begin with, comfortable silences being some of the more peaceful moments Jongwoon enjoyed in their relationship. But this silence was neither comfortable nor peaceful and Jongwoon wonders what is going on in Donghae’s mind. They reach home still without talking, say goodnight to Jongwoon’s mother who had waited up for them, before heading back to Jongwoon’s room. Jongwoon grabs some towels, toiletries, and two bathrobes and leads Donghae to the closest bathroom. It is only when they are soaking in the tub, Donghae laying back against Jongwoon, that the merman finally speaks. 

“Jongwoon,” Donghae says as Jongwoon diligently runs a sponge along one of the merman’s arms. “Jongwoon… Jungsoo-hyung, he said that if there’s something that really bothers me, then I should tell you instead of jumping to conclusions because that is what mature people in a relationship do. Can I?” 

Jongwoon frowns and stops what he is doing. Whatever Donghae wanted to tell him must be serious if Donghae is quoting Jungsoo. 

“Sure, Hae. What is it?” 

Donghae turns to face Jongwoon then, takes a deep breath before saying, “I don’t like Lee Hyukkie-ssi.” 

Jongwoon blinks. “Okay. I mean, I kind of understand and he is an annoying brat so…” 

Donghae shakes his head. “No. What I mean is, he  _feels_  strange and I… I don’t like him talking to you, Jongwoon.” 

Jongwoon blinks again. Was he hearing it right? This was the first time he'd heard Donghae say that he didn't like a person and by the way Donghae said it, it almost seemed like… 

“Donghae-ah, are you jealous of Hyukjae-ssi?” 

His suspicions are confirmed when Donghae says nothing, just looks away and Jongwoon sighs, places a hand at the back of Donghae’s neck and leans forward to kiss him. Donghae stays still and lets him but does not otherwise react and Jongwoon pulls away. 

“Hae, chagiya,” Jongwoon says, feeling a bit frustrated. “How many times do I have to tell you — I love you and I won’t leave you for anyone, okay?” 

“But Hyukjae-ssi… You seemed to enjoy talking to him…" 

"I was literally cursing at him half the time." 

"…and he is stylish and looks like a celebrity I've seen on TV…" 

"Of all things you should be worried about, me finding anyone more beautiful and handsome than you is not it." 

"… and he's human too so he must know how to give you children…" 

"Hae-ah, I’ve been telling you over and over — that’s not how it works for humans." 

"… and he is rich and capable while I’m just… I'm just Donghae and…' 

"And that's just it," Jongwoon interrupts him then, reaching up to cup his cheeks, looks Donghae directly in the eyes and says honestly, "It's precisely because you're 'just Donghae' that I'm with you and not anybody else." 

"Jongwoon…" 

"I love you," Jongwoon repeats. "And I don't know if saying it is enough to make you feel at ease but I'll keep saying it until you believe that there's no else for me but you." 

Donghae stares back at him for a while, unblinking, and Jongwoon tries not to waver. 

"Show me, then," Donghae whispers and once again it's the contrast between the merman's innocent look and the words he says that throws Jongwoon for a loop. 

"W-what?" 

"Show me, Jongwoon," Donghae repeats and Jongwoon flounders. 

"W-what? Here? Now? My parents are literally sleeping in the next room." 

"Show me," Donghae insists, looking up at him with those puppy eyes and a pout and Jongwoon curses himself for being so whipped for the merman. 

"Fine, but you have to be silent and if the water starts running cold, we — mmph." 

Donghae finally smiles then, cuts off any further protests by pulling Jongwoon towards him and kissing him. Jongwoon kisses back because of course he does and when the water did does start running cold, neither of them even notices. 


	100. Betrayal

It is almost noon when Jongwoon and Donghae finally get up and out of bed the next day. Jongwoon apologizes repeatedly to his mother for missing breakfast even as they sit at the table for an early lunch, his father already having gone out to work. His mother just gives them a knowing smile as she takes in the sight of Donghae nodding off sleepily while leaning against Jongwoon’s shoulder, says she’s just glad they seemed to have worked out whatever it was they were fighting over last night but why did Donghae look so tired.

Donghae wakes up then upon hearing his name, only to have a blushing Jongwoon push a spoonful of avocado into his mouth to keep the merman from saying anything embarrassing. 

Donghae’s eyes widen. “Sweet. What is this, Jongwoon?” 

“It’s sweetened avocado with condensed milk,” Jongwoon’s mother says. “It will help you regain your energy, dear.” 

“Oh,” Donghae says. “Thank you, Eomeonim. I really got tired after Jongwoon… mmph.” 

“Ah, Hae,” Jongwoon says in a panic, feeding him yet another spoonful. “I don’t think Omma needs to hear about…” 

Jongwoon’s mother laughs making the two of them look at her, keeps on laughing while holding her middle and wiping tears from her eyes and Jongwoon can’t help but smile in spite of himself. That his mother can laugh like that now truly is a blessing after all they’ve been through as a family.  

Donghae looks between Jongwoon and his mother curiously and asks, “Eomeonim?” 

“Ah, I’m sorry, Hae dear,” Jongwoon’s mother says when she finally calms down. “It’s just that… You have to understand, our Woonie was always serious as a child — I did mention that he’s never brought anyone home right? — always focused on doing what he thought needed to be done no matter what, even to the point of giving up the things he wanted to do. His father and I, we always regretted him having to carry such a heavy burden early on and it’s just… to see him enjoying normal things like this and living his life, as a mother, it makes me feel relieved, you know?” A smile and Jongwoon’s mother takes Donghae’s hands in hers, says sincerely. “So thank you, Donghae. I’m really glad Woonie has found someone who makes him smile like you do.” 

Donghae looks confused. “Why are you thanking me, Eomeonim? I love Jongwoon. Of course I’ll do everything to make him smile.” 

Jongwoon’s mother tears up then and stands up to hug a still confused Donghae and Jongwoon doesn’t think it possible but that makes him fall even more in love with Donghae than he already was. 

— 

They walk through the park built around the lake, holding hands just as the sun sets. They aren’t the only couple around and Donghae looks around in amazement. 

“Wow. So many couples in one place.” 

Jongwoon looks around as well. “Ah, this really has become a dating spot huh?” He turns to Donghae. “Don’t you have something like this under the sea?” 

Donghae shakes his head. “No. We don’t really go outside much under the sea unless we really need to. It’s dangerous.” 

“So how do you go on dates then?” 

Donghae looks at Jongwoon, thinking. “Dates, huh? Aren’t they a human thing? My people don’t usually bother doing things like this…” Donghae squeezes Jongwoon’s hand. “Just go straight to the mating ceremony once we find our Destined Mates. It kinda keeps our people from going ext… ext… from dying out.” A smile. “This is nice though, this dating thing.” 

Jongwoon blinks. That… actually explained a lot. “Oh, so if you didn’t meet me…” 

Donghae looks away. “I probably would’ve had to go back and…” He begins tearing up. 

And Jongwoon remembers the mating ceremony that Donghae had run away from, not once but twice, stops walking and pulls Donghae into a fierce hug. 

“No,” Jongwoon says. “No. Definitely not on my watch. You’re not getting mat… married to anyone but me, understand? You’re mine, okay?” 

Donghae nods. “Yours.” A pause. “You’re mine too, right, Jongwoon?” 

“Always,” Jongwoon says and kisses him. 

— 

They walk into the hotel’s restaurant still holding hands to find Hyukjae already there, dressed in a simple tight black shirt and jeans that Jongwoon thinks probably is worth a couple of months of his wages. He smiles when he sees them. 

“Jongwoon-hyung,” Hyukjae says. “I’m so glad you could make it, though you could have at least texted me back. Ah, and I see you’ve brought Donghae-ssi too.” 

“Uhm, yeah” Jongwoon says as he helps Donghae to his seat. “Thanks for having us, Hyukjae-ssi. You… aren’t charging me for this one somehow, are you?” 

“No. No of course not. This really is just as thanks for bringing me home when I was drunk,” Hyukjae laughs. “You really don’t trust me, do you?” 

Jongwoon snorts and does not answer. 

— 

Jongwoon blinks at his reflection in the mirror as he splashes water on his face. The dinner went better than expected and, though Donghae still didn’t seem to like Hyukjae for some reason, at least the merman had replied when spoken to — which, stangely enough, wasn’t a lot, Hyukjae acting as though the merman wasn’t there most of the time. On hindsight, that should have triggered some warning bells in Jongwoon’s brain but at that moment, Jongwoon just shrugged it off as a celebrity thing. So he ate the food and drank the wine Hyukjae bought until he realized he’d drunk more than he could handle and excused himself to the washroom to sober up. He’d been hesitant at first about leaving Donghae and Hyukjae alone but the director had stood up as well, saying he was going to go settle the bill… which is why Jongwoon is surprised to find Hyukjae leaning against one of the cubicle doors when he next looks up in the mirror. 

“Oh,” Jongwoon says, turning around to face him. “Are you done settling the bill, Hyukjae-ssi? Because I already told you, I have no money and…” 

“I know what he is,” Hyukjae says with a strange expession and Jongwoon stops. 

“What?” 

“I know what he is, hyung,” Hyukjae repeats, walking forward until he is barely a hairsbreadth away making Jongwoon stagger back against the counter, leans in close to whisper in Jongwoon’s ear. “Donghae-ssi, he’s not like us, is he, hyung? He’s not human.” 

Jongwoon’s eyes widen at Hyukjae’s declaration, forces a laugh against the wild beating of his heart. “Not human? I don’t know what you mean, Hyukjae-ssi. Are you sure you’re not…” Trails off when he feels the director’s hands moving up to trace circles on his stomach. 

“H-hyukjae-ssi, w-what…” 

“He’s not like us, hyung,” Hyukjae repeats, breathing heavily even as a hand travels down Jongwoon’s stomach to the waistband of his pants. “He’s a merman and I can’t help but wonder if someone who is not human could understand basic human needs.” At that, Hyukjae pulls away and smiles . “I like you, Jongwoon-hyung, and I’m sure I could give you what you want. Give me a chance, will you?” 

And with that, Hyukjae takes Jongwoon’s collar in his hands and pulls him into a kiss. Jongwoon freezes, brain unable to process what is happening until it is too late, registers the sound of the door opening and his name being called, heart stopping when he looks up to see Donghae standing at the door of the restroom, eyes flashing golden with a feeling of hurt and betrayal Jongwoon wishes he never had to make the merman feel.


	101. Another LQ chapter except that it’s real this time

“Mmph,” Jongwoon protests against Hyukjae’s lips, wants to say,  No, Hae! It’s not what you think , is about to pushHyukjae off when suddenly, the director is flying off him as Jongwoon watches his usually peaceful merman punch Hyukjae with all his strength, proving that the muscles of his arms are not just for show.

“Hae!” Jongwoon exclaims, not sure if he should be amazed or scared when suddenly he is seeing stars himself, finds himself stumbling against the counter, cheek throbbing after the slap Donghae gives him.

“Hae, please... I’m sorry. I...”

“You said you were mine,” Jongwoon hears and his heart hurts at the pain in the other’s voice.

“Hae...”

“You said you were mine, Jongwoon, but here I find you kissing someone else!” Donghae cries, tears falling down his cheeks and Jongwoon feels himself tearing up as well.

“Hae, please. Listen, I—“ reaches for the merman, only to be pushed away.

“I hate you, Jongwoon,” Donghae says, golden eyes looking straight into the human’s eyes. “I never want to see you ever again!”

And then Donghae is running away, leaving a stupefied Jongwoon behind, his words echoing through the silent restroom. It takes several seconds before Jongwoon comes to his senses.

Did Donghae just...

No! No! Jongwoon curses and, heart pounding hard against his chest, runs like he has never run before.

—

“Hae! Donghae! Wait!” Jongwoon calls out, already out of breath as he chases after Donghae into the park. The merman runs surprisingly fast for someone who didn’t have legs until recently and it was just a matter of minutes till they reach the lake.

Donghae stops when he gets to the lakeshore and Jongwoon allows himself to slow down and catch his breath, only for his eyes to widen when he sees Donghae begin to strip.

“Donghae!” he calls, forces himself to move forward inspite of the pain in his legs, manages to takes a hold of Donghae’s arm just before the merman could step into the lake. “Hae, stop!” he says. “What are you doing? It’s freezing and...”

“What do you care?” Donghae whispers and Jongwoon is surprised at the venom in the other’s voice.

“What?”

“I said what do you care?” Donghae shouts, turning to face him still with teary, pain-filled golden eyes, and Jongwoon has to remind himself that it just isn’t the time to get distracted by the merman’s naked chest. “Just go back to Hyukkie-ssi and kiss him and make as many babies as you want! I’m sure it’d be easier since you’re both human.” A sob. “Just... just please... It hurts too much. Just leave me alone to turn into foam or something.”

“No!” Jongwoon cries, taking a hold of Donghae’s shoulder. “No! Donghae, what are you saying? that’s not... We’re not... It’s Hyukjae’s fault okay? He cornered me and...”

But then Donghae just looks at him with sad eyes Jongwoon wishes not for the first time that he never accepted Hyukjae’s invitation because this — Donghae hurting and speaking as though he would... No, this definitely wasn’t worth the free steak and wine, nothing was.

“Goodbye, Jongwoon,” Donghae says sadly before shrugging Jongwoon off and jumping bodily into the lake.

A flash of pink, a splash of a tail and he’s gone and Jongwoon panics.

“Donghae! Donghae! No!” Jongwoon calls out, not knowing what to do. “Hae! Chagiya! Please! Come back! I love—“

Jongwoon hears a splasha bit farther into the lake and his mind is made up for him, curses himself as he takes off his jacket and shirt, sends up a prayer to whoever may be listening before jumping into the freezing water after the merman.

If only Jongwoon remembered he didn’t actually know how to swim.


End file.
